BCPA is a procedure that involves bypassing the pulmonary arteries. It can be a useful palliative operation. However, BCPA is not for everyone. Patients have to be at high risk of pulmonary venous obstruction. This can mean that the patient does not get out of the hospital quickly after surgery.

In addition, patients have to undergo cardiac catheterization before BCPA. The present study was designed to determine whether pre-BCPA catheterization is required for patients who have favorable echocardiographic parameters.

Twenty-three patients with a median age of 10 months were included in the study. All except one had previous palliative operations. Among the favorable group, four had tricuspid atresia, two had double-inlet right ventricles, and one had an atrioventricular septal defect.

Two patients had bilateral superior vena cavae. In addition, the median age at operation was 7 months. The mean follow up period was 14 months. These results suggest that a mean of 8 weeks post-discharge is the minimum time that a patient should be out of the hospital.

After the BCPA procedure, a novel method was developed to quantify pulmonary perfusion in the patient with bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis. The method is the first to describe the physiology of a BCPA patient.

The method can be used to calculate the left to right lung flow ratio. In addition, it can be used to quantify the relative contribution of each lung to perfusion.

Another study compared the effects of different ventilatory techniques. Different ventilatory techniques have been shown to have their own individual cardiovascular effects. For example, airway pressure release ventilation is reported to improve lung perfusion in the postoperative period.