Echocardiographic Assessment of Functional Single Ventricles after the Fontan Operation

Abstract

For the majority of patients with different types of functionally univentricular hearts, the treatment goal is to achieve palliation through the creation of a total cavopulmonary anastomotic connection known as the Fontan operation [1]. This operation essentially bypasses the right heart by directing the systemic venous return into the pulmonary circulation without passing through a ventricular chamber. The Fontan operation causes a unique type of circulation, which requires a specific echocardiographic approach. In the current chapter we will first review the specific physiologic characteristics of a Fontan circulation followed by a discussion of the echocardiographic evaluation.