A Tribute to the Pioneers of Right Heart Bypass: An Historical Review.

Cavopulmonary anastomosis was first described by Carlon, Mondini, De Marchi in a canine model in 1951 and later, in the clinical practice, by Glenn in 1958. Total right heart bypass was first introduced by Fontan and Kreutzer in 1971, in each instance as treatment for tricuspid atresia. Several modifications of such a procedure followed the initial concept of the right atrium as a pumping chamber, including modifications aimed to minimize energy loss at the anastomotic level and arrhythmias. Tribute is given to our pioneers who developed such an operation aimed to treat any child with functionally univentricular hearts.