The Bovine Jugular Vein: A Totally Integrated Valved Conduit to Repair the Right Ventricular Outflow
Thierry Carrel MD, Pascal Berdat MD, Mladen Pavlovic MD, Jean-Pierre Pfammatter MD

The early experience with a totally integrated valved conduit derived from a bovine jugular vein is reported; this has the advantage of there being no discontinuity between the lumen of the conduit and the valve it incorporates. A total of 22 Contegra valved conduits (12-22 mm) was inserted in the pulmonary valve position in patients with following pathologies: tetralogy of Fallot (n = 13), pulmonary atresia (n = 3), double outlet right ventricle with pulmonary stenosis (PS) (n = 3), transposition of the great arteries, ventricular septal defect and PS (n = 2) and truncus arteriosus (n = 1). There was no mortality and no valved-conduit-related early morbidity. Intraoperative invasive assessment revealed a mean peak pressure increase of 8.5 ± 6.3 mmHg. This new valved conduit is an excellent immediate substitute of the pulmonary valve. Further data are required to confirm the durability and efficacy of this conduit in the long term.