Allison Beckham Davila, Mariana Chavez, Kimberlee Gauvreau, Christina Ireland, Kathy J. Jenkins, Michael Farias, Eric N. Feins, Christopher W. Baird
Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Feinberg School of Medicine.
United States
Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Ann Thorac Surg 2026;
DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2026.03.056
Abstract
Background: The study objective was to evaluate surgical outcomes of patients having had catheter-based pulmonary vein (PV) stents implanted with subsequent pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) repair in a large, single-center cohort.
Methods: Clinical data from a PVS registry were retrospectively reviewed identifying patients who had prior PV stents placed, developed in-stent stenosis, and required subsequent PVS repair.
Results: Between September 2007 and July 2023, 251 patients underwent surgical PVS repair of which 42 (17%) of these patients had prior PV stents implanted. Bilateral stents were present in 19 patients (45%). Thirty-one patients (74%) had at least one prior PV operation. Median follow-up was 8 months, interquartile range (IQR) [3-36]. Thirty-one patients (74%) underwent post-operative catheter reintervention to maintain patency and 6 patients (14%) underwent surgical re-operation. Overall, survival at discharge was 95%, and in the modern era 65% survived at last follow-up. There were similar survival outcomes in PVS patients undergoing surgery with and without prior stents, p=0.23. Of the individual veins within patients with prior stents, 84% (n=97) of stented veins were patent at last follow-up.
Conclusions: There are increasing numbers of patients undergoing catheter-based PV stent interventions for severe recurrent PVS. Despite this, there are reasons to be hopeful, with 84% of these veins patent at most recent follow-up, and no difference in survival between those patients with and without preoperative stent placement.
Category
Stenosis or Obstruction of Normal Pulmonary Venous Connections
Stenosis or Obstruction of Pulmonary Veins Following Surgical Repair of Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connections
Surgical Interventions for Pulmonary Venous Obstruction After the Onset of Disease
Year of Publication: 2026
Age Focus: Pediatric
Article Type: Retrospective Observational Cohort Studies (>10 patients)
Article Access: Free PDF File or Full Text Article Available Through PubMed or DOI: No