A Modified Approach with Caval Transection for Supracardiac Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection: Comparison Between Conventional and Sutureless Surgery in 173 Patients

The efficacy of primary sutureless repair for supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) needs to be confirmed. This study aimed to compare the long-term outcomes between the conventional surgery and the sutureless technique with a modified approach in superior TAPVC. Between January 2008 and December 2018, 173 patients with supracardiac TAPVC underwent surgery either with the conventional procedure ( n = 130) or the sutureless repair ( n = 43). Multivariate analysis and competing-risk analysis were used to identify risk factors for early death and postoperative pulmonary venous obstruction (PVO), respectively. Among 173 patients who underwent repair of supracardiac TAPVC, 46 (28%) had preoperative PVO, and 22 (12.7%) had postoperative PVO. The sutureless group had a lower postoperative PVO rate compared with the conventional group ( p = 0.027). The risk factors for death were age ≤ 28 days [odds ratio (OR), 11.56; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.33–100.47, p = 0.015], weight ≤ 3 kg (OR 9.57; 95% CI 1.58–58.09, p = 0.009), emergency operation (OR 19.24; 95% CI 3.18–116.35, p = 0.002), cardiopulmonary bypass time (OR 2.16; 95% CI 1.36–3.43, p = 0.003), cross-clamp time (OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.20–2.50, p = 0.022), and duration of ventilation (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.02–1.21, p = 0.027). Age ≤ 28 days [Hazard Ratio (HR) 1.92; 95% CI 1.92–11.02, p < 0.001] and preoperative PVO (HR 41.70; 95% CI 8.15–213.5, p < 0.001) were associated with postoperative PVO. The sutureless repair is a reliable technique for supracardiac TAPVC. Age ≤ 28 days is associated with 30-day mortality and postoperative PVO.