The Blalock-Taussig operation: the procedure of choice in the hypoxic infant with tetralogy of Fallot

From 1971 to 1975, 17 consecutive patients aged 1 day to 4 years underwent Blalock-Taussig shunts for severe tetralogy of Fallot. Three infants were under 6 weeks of age and 7 (41%) under 1 year. There were no hospital deaths. Modification of the shunt technique adapts it to any size infant. The subclavian artery is divided at its major branches and the end spatulated to enlarge it. The artery is occluded while the shunt is constructed. No intraoperative complications were encountered; all patients have a shunt murmur with no early or late closure. No child has had heart failure or hypoxic spells. Flows measured at operation equaled one-quarter to one-half of the child's normal cardiac output. Ligation of the shunt at subsequent repair is uncomplicated. One child died three years later at correction from causes unrelated to the shunt. With appropriate modifications in technique, the Blalock-Taussig shunt is the operation of choice, at any age, for palliation of severe tetralogy of Fallot.