OBJECTIVES
Contegra, a glutaraldehyde fixed bovine jugular vein, has been developed for use in the surgical treatment of complex congenital heart defects. In this study we retrospectively evaluated our clinical experience with Contegra biological valved conduit implantations.

METHODS
From January 1999 until December 2008 196 Contegra valved conduit implantations were performed. In this retrospective study the outcomes in terms of early and late mortality, length of ICU and hospital stay, conduit failure requiring re-operation or cardiological interventional procedure were reviewed.

RESULTS
The mean patient age at time of surgery was 6.4±5.6 years and the mean weight was 22.5±20.9 Kg. Surgical indication included right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction (n=130), replacement of a previously implanted conduit from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery (n=36), Ross procedure (n=24) and aortic arch reconstruction (n=6). The mean diameter of the implanted Contegra valved conduit was 18.1±3.5 mm. There were 5 (2.6%) early deaths and 1 (0.5%) late death. The mean ICU stay was 4.3±6.9 days and the mean post-operative hospital stay was 13.6±14.6 days. The mean follow-up period was 784.3±823.7 days, for a total of 1.8 year/patient follow-up (range 1 month to 10 years). Nine (4.5%) patients required cardiological interventional procedure within a mean interval of 2.5±1.4 years, while 11 (5.6%) patients required surgical revision following implantation of Contegra.

CONCLUSIONS
After 10 years of experience with Contegra we continue to use this biological valved conduit as a reliable alternative to homografts, without any significant negative impact in terms of outcome.