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Progress of Modified Fontan Operation

Though the 10 year survival rate of Fontan procedure has increased from 69% in 1990 to 85% in 2006. Recently researchers have strived to improve the longterm outcome of this procedure and have made great achievements. They found that among the ten items of standard, the limits associated with age, anomalous systemic or pulmonary venous drainage, sinus rhythm, ratio of pulmonary artery/aorta should be relaxed. New operative designs such as extracardiac lateral tunnel Fontan and new types of HemiFontan procedure using shortened extracorporeal circulation may help to decrease the postoperative complications. Standardized postoperative therapeutic plan after Fontan procedure may decrease the duration of chest drainage，shorten the inpatient days and also avoid longterm treatment. However, longterm followup after Fontan procedure showed that the incidence rate and risk of longterm postoperative complications were still high. This article was directed to review the researches about Fontan on operative indications, optimizing the operative strategies, modifying the postoperative monitoring techniques and longterm follow-up.