High incidence of fever in patients after biointegral pulmonic valved conduit implantation

Objective To describe our short‐ and medium‐term outcomes using the BioIntegral pulmonic conduit. Methods Between August 2018 and September 2019, the BioIntegral pulmonic valved conduit was used for right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction in 48 patients. The data were retrospectively retrieved from the patient charts. Results The median age at surgery was 36 months (interquartile range [IQR] = 18–62 months). The diagnoses were pulmonary atresia‐ventricular septal defect in 28 patients, absent pulmonary valve in four patients, truncus arteriosus in six patients, TGA‐VSD‐PS in five patients, conduit stenosis in three patients, and left venticular outflow tract obstruction requiring a Ross operation in two patients. In the postoperative short‐term follow‐up, 15 patients out of 48 had a high fever. Of these, 12 patients had concomitantly elevated C‐reactive protein levels. There were no patients with blood culture positivity. The median postoperative length of hospital stay was 14 days (IQR = 8–21 days). The overall mortality was 4% in two patients, one died of right ventricular failure and multiple organ failure and one died of pulmonary embolism. The two patients who died were not among the 15 patients with fever. However, four patients with fever underwent balloon angioplasty for conduit restenosis in their medium‐term follow‐up. Conclusion There was a high incidence of fever and adverse outcomes in the short‐term postoperative follow‐up of patients in whom the BioIntegral pulmonic valved conduit was implanted. Caution is advisable in using these conduits until there is convincing evidence about the sterilization and storage standards of these grafts.