To switch or not to switch? The Senning alternative.

We analyzed the fate of 100 consecutive patients with simple arterial transposition who were admitted within the first 2 weeks of life to the Hospital for Sick Children during the period 1978-1986. In contrast to current practice, these patients were managed with the objective of performing a Senning operation as the definitive procedure. Five of these 100 patients died on the first day of life of sequelae of perinatal hypoxia, four died within the first month of life (often of complications of catheterization and septostomy), and three died later than the first month but before definitive operation (12% preoperative mortality). There were four operative deaths, and two late deaths have occurred to date. Actuarial survival was 84% at 5 years and 81% at 9 years. The postoperative attrition rate was 0.4 deaths per 100 patient-years. Actuarial survival of all patients treated for simple arterial transposition seems to be the best index for comparing arterial switch with interatrial repair protocols, because each protocol is associated with different patterns of preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative mortality.