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Highlights • Minimally invasive cardiac surgery for closure of subarterial ventricular septal defect. • The approach using left parasternal thoracotomy via third intercostal space. • Excellent exposure of subarterial ventricular septal defect without special instruments., Introduction Minimally invasive cardiac surgery has been applied for the treatment of ventricular septal defect (VSD) with various approaches. However, closure of subarterial VSD with minimally invasive technique via left parasternal thoracotomy is rarely reported. Case presentation A 22-year-old man, weighing 65 kg, with a diagnosis of subarterial VSD underwent successful repair with minimally invasive technique via left parasternal thoracotomy through third intercostal space. The peripheral perfusion was performed with femoral arterial and venous cannulation. Myocardium was protected by warm blood cardioplegia injected directly into aortic root by a long needle and aortic clamp introduced through the thoracotomy incision. Discussion The left parasternal thoracotomy through third intercostal space (ICS) allows to expose both the subarterial VSD and ascending aorta. Myocardial protection and repair of this defect can be performed merely without requirements of video assistance or unique instruments. The patient recovered rapidly and was satisfied with the cosmetic result. The primary concern of this technique is mammary tissue which can be injured by a transverse incision in female patients. In this case, we can transform into the longitudinal incision. Conclusion This minimally invasive technique is feasible for the surgical treatment of subarterial VSD. Long-term follow-up and additional cases will be needed for validation of the safety and efficacy of this approach.

Background The report of transcatheter doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect closure is limited. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and outcome of transcatheter closure of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect. Methods Clinical records, procedural and early to one-year follow-up data of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect patient who underwent transcatheter closure between 2013 and 2018 in Hasan Sadikin Hospital Bandung Indonesia were retrosprectively reviewed. Results There were 40 patients of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect who underwent transcatheter closure, consisted of 18 female and 22 male. The median of age was 8.8 (range 2.7–48) years, weight 24 (range 10.3–70) kg, and defect size 3.1 (1.24–7.4) mm. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure 23.4 SD 5.4 mmHg and flow ratio 1.65 SD 0.28. Median of latest follow-up was 14 months. No serious complications or death. The median length-of-stay period was 3 days, without intensive care admission. Failure to attempt in 3 cases, resulted 92.5% of acute procedural success rate. The acute efficacy was 37.5%, and increased up to 92% on latest follow-up. Of 7 patients with pre-existing aortic regurgitation, three was improved, two persisted, and one progressed to moderate regurgitation. New onset mild aortic regurgitation occurred in 1 patient, which persisted in the same degree during follow-up. Conclusion Transcatheter closure of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect is feasible, safe and effective as an alternative treatment to surgical closure in selected patient. The competence of the aortic valve remain the main concern and required further follow-up.

Transfemoral and perventricular device occlusions are performed for doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect (dcVSD) to reduce the invasiveness of the conventional surgical repair through a median sternotomy. Few comparative studies have been conducted of these three procedures.Inpatients with isolated dcVSD who had undergone transfemoral and perventricular device occlusions or conventional surgical repair from January 2009 to June 2013 were reviewed to compare the three procedures.Procedure success was achieved in 33 transfemoral (66%), in 74 perventricular (94.9%), and in 205 repair (97.6%) procedures. The transfemoral group had the lowest success rate (p0.001), whereas the perventricular and repair groups had similar success rates (p = 0.418). Transfemoral patients were the oldest (p0.001) and had a dcVSD size similar to that of patients in other two groups (p = 0.518). The repair group required the longest hospitalization and longest stays in the intensive care unit (p0.001), required the longest operating room and mechanical ventilation times (p0.001), and had the highest rate of transfusion (p0.001). Major adverse events occurred in one transfemoral (3%), in two perventricular (2.7%), and in three repair (1.4%) procedures. Minor adverse events were absent in transfemoral (0%) and occurred in three perventricular (4%) and 14 repair (6.7%) procedures. No significant difference was noted in the rates of adverse events the three groups (p = 0.569). No grade 3 valvular regurgitation or complete atrioventricular block was observed in the studied patients.Device occlusion may be an alternative to surgical repair in selected patients with dcVSD. Perventricular occlusion was the preferred approach because it showed a higher success rate than transfemoral occlusion.

Background The past decade has witnessed considerable improvement in implantation techniques for percutaneous closure of ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm. This study was undertaken to compare the immediate results and mid-term follow-up of traditional surgery and percutaneous closure of ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm in China. Methods Between January 1993 and January 2013, a total of 35 patients with ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm were enrolled for attempted closure in our institution. Twenty patients (57.1%) underwent surgical repair and the other 15 patients (42.9%) underwent percutaneous closure. Results Nineteen patients (95.0%) in the surgical group had complete closure and 14 patients (93.3%) in the percutaneous closure group were treated successfully (p = 0.681). Twelve patients with ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm combined with subarterial ventricular septal defect (VSD) underwent surgical repair concomitantly. Two patients in the percutaneous closure group were treated for ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm and perimembranous VSD using occluders concomitantly. One case of severe hemolysis developed 8 h after the procedure in the percutaneous closure group. One death and one case of patch leak occurred in the surgical group during hospitalization. The time of hospital stay in the percutaneous closure group was shorter than that in the surgical group (p = 0.004). The total medical cost of isolated ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm in the percutaneous closure group was lower compared with that in the surgical group (p = 0.046). During a median follow-up of 15 months (2–240 months), there were no deaths, infective endocarditis, device embolization, or malposition. Conclusions Percutaneous closure is an attractive alternative to surgery in selected patients with ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm for the better clinical advantages and economic benefits.

Previous reports on the long-term outcome of surgical closure of subarterial ventricular septal defect were based on a relatively small number of patients.We reviewed the long-term outcome of 135 patients who underwent closure of their defect and, in light of the findings, assessed the impact of preoperative aortic cusp prolapse and surgical interventions on occurrence of aortic regurgitation (AR) in the long-term. The patients were categorized into three groups for comparison: group I consisted of 79 patients with no aortic cusp prolapse and underwent simple closure of ventricular septal defect, group II comprised 39 patients with mild to moderate cusp prolapse who similarly had only closure of the defect performed, whereas group III comprised 17 patients who had additional aortic valvoplasty for greater than moderate to severe cusp prolapse.Group I patients had significantly higher pulmonary arterial pressure (p0.001) and ratio of pulmonary blood flow to systemic blood flow (p0.001). None of these patients had AR before their operation, and none experienced AR afterward at a median follow-up of 6.1 years. Of the 39 group II patients, 30 (77%) had trivial or mild AR preoperatively. The AR improved in 15 patients, remained trivial or mild in 14 and absent in 7, but progressed to trivial or mild in 3 at a median follow-up of 3.1 years. None required further interventions. In contrast, 14 (82%) of the 17 group III patients had moderate to severe AR before operation. The regurgitation improved in 10, but remained moderate or severe in 4 and worsened further in 3 at a median follow-up of 4.6 years. The freedom from failure of aortic valvoplasty was (mean +/- standard error of the mean) 71%+/-11%, 64%+/-12%, and 43%+/-19% at 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively. An older age at latest follow-up was the only identifiable significant risk factor (p = 0.03).Our data do not support the need of aortic valvoplasty for mild to moderate aortic cusp prolapse. Close follow-up is warranted in those with greater than moderate to severe cusp prolapse despite valvoplasty as there is continued failure on follow-up. Nothing, however, is better than early closure of defects before development of aortic valve complications.

Doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defects should be closed surgically once aortic valve deformity is present before the onset of aortic regurgitation.

Background . Many surgeons recommend early repair of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect regardless of the clinical symptoms. We reviewed our patients of this anomaly with aortic cusp prolapse to justify this strategy. Methods . We reviewed the preoperative and postoperative records of 27 patients with doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect and aortic cusp prolapse. The patients' ages ranged from 2 months to 11 years (median, 4.6 years). Results . During the preoperative observation period, aortic regurgitation (AR) developed in 65% of the patients. In the 8 patients without AR before the operation, AR did not develop after the operation, whereas AR persisted in 12 (63%) of the 19 patients with preoperative AR. To identify the risk factors for persistent AR after the operation we analyzed the data for the patients with preoperative AR in the persistent AR group (n = 12) and eliminated AR group (n = 7) and found a longer period from the onset of AR to the operation in the persistent AR group (32.1 ± 10.1 versus 5.6 ± 1.9 months; p = 0.014). During the follow-up period 10 of the 17 patients with mild AR before the operation showed persistent AR in the postoperative period, but it did not progress. Conclusions . We conclude that early surgical repair with a minimum observation period is essential for prevention of residual AR. Even if a tiny AR is detected preoperatively, the patient should be surgically treated immediately.

To detect in children with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) the prevalence of associated cardiac anomalies in syndromic and isolated cases, the additional cardiac defects of 150 consecutive patients with ToF (102 isolated and 48 syndromic cases) were evaluated by review of echocardiographic, angiocardiographic, and surgical reports. Syndromic patients were classified into groups with branchial arch defects, Down syndrome, and other genetic conditions. ToF is significantly associated with additional cardiac malformations in patients with branchial arch (11 of 21, p

Background . We performed direct closure of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defects with aortic cusp prolapse. Postoperative echocardiographic studies showed that this method improved coaptation of the prolapsing aortic cusp, especially in patients with mild aortic regurgitation (AR). Methods . Twenty-one patients (mean age, 7.8 ± 4.3 years; range, 2 to 18 years) with doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect underwent direct closure alone. Aortic valve prolapse was observed in all 21 patients, with mild AR found in 13 patients but not in the remaining 8. The site of the prolapsed aortic valve was in the right coronary cusp in all patients. We inserted an interrupted 4-0 or 5-0 polypropylene suture with a pledget from the lower margin of the ventricular septal defect to the pulmonary ring to increase protrusion of the prolapsed cusp by pushing it back and to improve coaptation of the aortic cusp. Results . The interval between surgical treatment and the last postoperative evaluation ranged from 3 to 24 months (median, 11 months). No residual ventricular septal defect was detected in any patient. In the 8 patients who had aortic valve prolapse without AR preoperatively, no AR was found at follow-up. Of the 13 patients who had mild AR associated with aortic valve prolapse preoperatively, AR diminished in 7 and did not progress in the remaining 6. Furthermore, no anatomic changes in either the aortic or pulmonary annulus were found on follow-up echocardiography. In the group of 13 patients with mild preoperative AR, AR significantly persisted in patients who were more than 10 years old at operation (p Conclusions . Our findings suggest that direct closure for this type of ventricular septal defect is safe and reliable in improving mild AR and that direct closure is more effective for younger patients in whom the prolapsing aortic cusp is mobile enough to be protruded. However, further long-term follow-up studies will be needed to ascertain the adequacy and usefulness of the method.

Five patients with clinical features of tetralogy of Fallot had subarterial doubly committed ventricular septal defect (VSD) with absence or deficiency of the infundibular septum. Two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiography differentiated this special group from those with the usual Fallot's anatomy. In addition to the long-axis view of the left ventricle which showed the subaortic VSD and the aortic and mitral fibrous continuity, the short-axis view at the cardiac base clearly demonstrated the subpulmonary extension of the VSD in the atypical group. Two-dimensional echocardiography was found superior to biplane angiography, which in 3 patients suggested the erroneous diagnosis of double-outlet right ventricle with pulmonic valve stenosis. This variant form of Fallot's tetralogy poses special surgical problems.

Doubly committed subarterial (supracristal, subpulmonary) ventricular septal defects are often complicated by aortic regurgitation resulting from aortic valve herniation into the defect. The clinical, echocardiographic and catheterization findings in 48 patients aged 0.3 to 46.4 years (median 9.5) with a doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect were reviewed. Aortic valve herniation was present in 38 (79%) and 55% of these had aortic regurgitation. The prevalence of both findings increased gradually with advancing age. The defect was closed surgically in 41 patients. Surgery during the first 2 years of life (median 0.4 year) was performed in 13 patients (group I), mainly because of a large shunt with a pulmonary to systemic flow ratio (Qp/Qs) 3.8 +/- 1.4 (mean +/- SD). Aortic regurgitation was present preoperatively in two patients (15%), persisted postoperatively in one patient and did not develop in any after repair (median duration of follow-up 2.3 years, range 0.1 to 7.4). In the other 28 patients (group II) surgery was performed between 4.8 and 46.4 years of age (median 11.5). These patients were generally less symptomatic and had a smaller shunt (Qp/Qs 1.5 +/- 0.5, p less than 0.001). Preoperative aortic regurgitation was present in 18 (64%). It persisted in 15 postoperatively, but in 13 of these it had diminished. Two-dimensional echocardiography in multiple views identified the site of the ventricular septal defect in all patients. Serial echocardiographic examinations demonstrated the progressive nature of aortic valve herniation, the partial occlusion of the defect by the herniated sinus and the development of aortic regurgitation. These findings suggest that timely surgical closure of these defects may prevent aortic regurgitation.