Between February 1980 and June 1987, 42 shunts were placed in 39 infants with pulmonary atresia: 33 were modified Blalock-Taussig shunts with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and 9 were classic Blalock-Taussig shunts. There were four hospital deaths not related to the shunts. The remaining 35 patients were followed up for 1.6 months to 6.3 years (mean, 24.7 +/- 18 months). Repeat cineangiocardiographic studies revealed stenosis or distortion of the pulmonary arteries related to the site of the shunt in 11/22 patients (50%) with PTFE shunts and in 1/6 (17%) with classic Blalock-Taussig shunts; the stenosis was severe in only 1 patient. Mean increase in the pulmonary arterial index in the group with classic Blalock-Taussig shunts was 117 +/- 52 mm2/m2 (not significant) and in the group with PTFE shunts, 158 +/- 21 mm2/m2 (p less than 0.001). Late shunt occlusion occurred in 1 patient 23 months postoperatively. Thereafter, shunt patency rate remained at 94% +/- 6%. At the end of 1 year 81% +/- 7% of patients were judged to have adequate palliation, but between 2 and 3 years, only 60% +/- 10%. Univariate analysis showed that after 2 years the ranking order for successful palliation was classic Blalock-Taussig, 5-mm PTFE, and 4-mm PTFE shunts, but differences did not achieve statistical significance.