Fontan Follow-Up 3

(Observational Study)

Study Summary

The Fontan 3 Study was the second follow-up study of an existing cohort of children, originally between 6 and 18 years old at the time of enrollment in the Fontan Cross-Sectional (Fontan 1) Study between March 2003 and April 2004. In this study, we wanted to learn how these children and young adults, now between the ages of 15 and 25 years, have done since their enrollment in Fontan 1.


Decrease in Exercise Performance

We found that there was a decrease in exercise performance over time, which was associated with poorer functional health status at follow-up.

Increase in Interventions

There was an increase in the number of participants undergoing interventions and suffering health complications over time.

Who was in the study?

Children and young adults that were enrolled in the Fontan 1 Cross-Sectional study, or the Fontan 2 study.

What happened during the study?

Participants were asked for an echocardiogram, and exercise test, and a blood sample. Depending on a participant’s age, the participant or the participant and their parents filled out questionnaires that asked about physical, emotional, and social aspects of health and quality of life, living situation education, work outside the home, and other factors that might affect medical care, like health insurance coverage. Finally, participant medical records were reviewed to obtain information about surgeries, tests, time spent in the hospital, medicine taken, and services received, like physical or speech therapy.

What were the results of the study?

In this longitudinal study, we found that there was a decrease in exercise performance over time, which was associated with poorer functional health status at follow-up. There was also an increase in the number of participants undergoing interventions and suffering health complications over time.

The PHN is grateful to all of the families who participated in this study. The results from this study will help us to design future studies to learn more about helping children who had Fontan surgery live healthier lives.

Study Publications

  • Longitudinal outcomes of patients with Single Ventricle after the Fontan procedure

    A. Atz, J Am Coll Cardiol 2017; 69(22):2735-2744.

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  • Longitudinal study of anthropometry in Fontan survivors: Pediatric Heart Network Fontan study

    L. M. Lambert, Am Heart J. 2020 Jun;224:192-200. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2020.03.022.

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  • Exercise Capacity and Predictors of Performance After Fontan: Results from the Pediatric Heart Network Fontan 3 Study

    D. J. Goldberg, Pediatr Cardiol. 2020 Sep 25. doi: 10.1007/s00246-020-02465-1.

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