Changes of Right Ventricular Function and Longitudinal Deformation in Children with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome before and after the Norwood Operation

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in right ventricular (RV) function and deformation parameters before and at steady state after the Norwood operation in neonates with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. A further aim was to delineate factors that affected these changes. Methods On echocardiograms before and 21 days (range, 10–35 days) after the Norwood operation, the two-dimensional speckle-tracking parameters global and regional peak systolic longitudinal strain and strain rate were retrospectively compared in 33 patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. In addition, RV functional assessment included RV fractional area change and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion. The associations between postoperative echocardiographic findings and preoperative or postoperative complications, prenatal diagnosis, postoperative heart rate, oxygen saturation, and medication use as well as cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times were tested. Results Global strain (−18.3 ± 3.6% vs −16.8 ± 3.8%, P  = .02) and global strain rate (−1.6 ± 0.3 vs −1.2 ± 0.3 sec −1 , P Conclusions Two-dimensional global and regional longitudinal strain and strain rate as well as tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion were reduced in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome after the Norwood operation. None of the examined preoperative and postoperative patient or surgical factors was found to explain this decrease.