TY - JOUR T1 - Fifteen-minute consultation: Assessing the child with a Blalock-Taussig shunt who is unwell in a district general hospital JF - Archives of disease in childhood - Education & practice edition JO - Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed SP - 142 LP - 146 DO - 10.1136/archdischild-2018-315875 VL - 105 IS - 3 AU - Steven McVea AU - Anne McGettrick Y1 - 2020/06/01 UR - http://ep.bmj.com/content/105/3/142.abstract N2 - Univentricular heart disease accounts for ~1.25% of all congenital heart disease. Such cases remain among the most challenging to manage, typically requiring a three-staged palliation. The first stage involves placement of a systemic to pulmonary shunt. While a variety of shunt types, including ductal stenting, can be used to manage univentricular conditions, the archetype remains the Blalock-Taussig (BT) shunt. While waiting future palliative intervention at home, intercurrent illness may necessitate presentation to a district general hospital where subspecialist advice and assessment is remote. This review aims to present the general paediatrician with a straightforward BT shunt physiology overview highlighting unique complications which may complicate intercurrent illness. ER -