sano shunt sano shunt a sano shunt is a shunt from the right ventricle to the pulmonary circulation. sano shuntdiagram of the human heart. in the sano shunt, circulation is diverted from the right ventricle to the pulmonary circulation. in contrast to a blalock–taussig shunt, circulation is primarily in systole. it is sometimes used as the first step in a norwood procedure. diagram of a sano shunt (orange) in hypoplastic left heart syndrome after norwood procedure. in the sano shunt (or right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery shunt) the blood flows from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery. this procedure was pioneered by the japanese cardiothoracic surgeon, shunji sano (b.1953) in 2003.