High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Fontan procedure, or Fontan/Kreutzer procedure, is a palliative surgical procedure used in children with complex congenital heart defects. It involves diverting the venous blood from the right atrium to the pulmonary arteries without passing through the morphologic pulmonary ventricle. It was initially described in 1971 by Dr Fontan and Dr Kreutzer separately as a surgical treatment for tricuspid atresia.