Changes in Pulmonary Vascular Resistance in Infants and Children with Left-to-Right Intracardiac Shunts

Abstract

The hemodynamic data of seventeen patients with left-to-right intracardiac shunts and pulmonary hypertension have been reviewed. A considerable rise in pulmonary vascular resistance was observed in 12 of these patients between the time of the first and second catheterizations. The results suggest that the possibility of progressive elevation of pulmonary vascular resistance with the passage of time should be a serious consideration in the selection of optimum age for operation in patients with left-to-right intracardiac shunts.