Treadmill test in objective evaluation of late results of radical correction of tetralogy of Fallot

The many-stage treadmill test was carried out according to a worked-out program in 41 patients before and in 55 patients after radical correction of Fallot's tetrad (40 healthy individuals were the controls). The pump function of the heart (oxygen debt dynamics), the anaerobic threshold (complex of gas analytical indices), and the efficacy of blood flow in lesser circulation (O2 consumption plateau) were appraised. The results proved to be best according to all criteria in patients with trans-annuloplasty of the conus arteriosus and pulmonary trunk with the use of a monocusp graft, and poorest in patients who were operated on through a transverse approach. This regularity was also encountered in 31 patients who were studied in follow-up periods of 3 years after the operation.