CFD study of physiological Fontan circulation

Approximately 1% of newborn babies present some form of congenital heart defect (CHD), with as much as half of these undergoing surgery in their lifetime [1]. The most severe malformations are treated with palliative surgery, the most common of which is the so-called Fontan circulation.

The conventional Fontan circulation deviates the superior vena cava (SVC=1/3 of the systemic venous return) towards the right lung (3/5 of total lung volume) and the inferior vena cava (IVC=2/3 of the systemic venous return) towards the left lung (2/5 of total lung volume). A “physiological” Fontan deviating the SVC towards the left lung and the IVC towards the right lung was compared with the conventional setting by computational fluid dynamics (CFD), studying if this setting achieves a more favourable hemodynamic than the conventional Fontan circulation. [Introduction]