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Blalock Taussig shunt

Dr MT Niknejad and Dr Frank Gaillard et al.

The Blalock Taussig (BT) shunt is a palliative procedure performed in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (prior to the ability to repair the defect) to increase the pulmonary blood-flow.

Originally the shunt sacrificed the subclavian artery (with a distal ligation) and the proximal portion is routed downwards to an end to side anastomosis with the ipsilateral branch of the pulmonary artery. The modified BT shunt nowadays uses a synthetic graft, usually polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore-Tex®).

The procedure was named after Alfred Blalock (surgeon to first perform this procedure) and Helen Taussig (pediatric cardiologist, who designed the shunt). It was first performed in November 1944 at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland (USA).