Pediatric cardiac transplantation: three-dimensional printing of anatomic models for surgical planning of heart transplantation in patients with univentricular heart

Orthotopic heart transplantation is definitive therapy for infants with failing staged palliation after univentricular repair. Although the surgical management of these patients may be quite straightforward, the actual cardiac and vascular anatomy is sometimes unpredictable. To overcome this problem, we developed a new technique to fabricate a custom made replica from 128-slice computed tomographic (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) angiography to create a realistic model of the anatomic situation for preoperative assessment and intraoperative orientation in 2 patients with failed staged palliation. In such situations, solid replicas may be helpful in choosing surgical treatment strategies before heart transplantation, for intraoperative orientation, and in demonstrating the planned procedure to patients and parents with lifelike models.