Single ventricle heart disease is a congenital condition characterized by the inoperability of one ventricle of an infant’s heart. Those suffering from this condition face a series of palliative surgeries called the Fontan procedure, which bypasses the non-functional ventricle by creating a total cavopulmonary connection, or TCPC. This TCPC forms from the anastomosis of the superior and inferior vena cavae (SVC, IVC) to the left and right pulmonary arteries (LPA, RPA), thus allowing systemic blood flow to bypass the heart and flow passively to the lungs. The Fontan procedure creates this junction with three surgeries separated by months or years.

The Fontan procedure is used in pediatric situations in which infants have complex congenital heart disease or a single effective ventricle. This procedure by-passes right heart by connecting the left and right pulmonary arteries (LPA/RPA) to the superior and inferior vena cavae (SVC/IVC). The resulting reconstructed anatomy is called total cavopulmonary connection or TCPC. Knowledge of fluid dynamics in TCPC helps in optimizing the connection itself for reduced resistance as well as aids in designing cavopulmonary assist devices like viscous impeller pump (VIP) [1].