For infants with heart disease, are shunts or stents better to maintain blood flow?

(Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) Infants with various forms of congenital heart disease require a stable source of blood flow to their lungs in order to survive until a more definitive operation can be performed. In a recent study, pediatric researchers compared two methods to provide that flow: a shunt to reroute blood and an implanted stent to maintain an open path for blood flow. For selected patients, stents are preferable.