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Twenty-two children, who were operated on for ventricular septal defects (VSD) at 3-11 years of age, were studied 2-11 years postoperatively with respect to signs of residual shunt, cardiomegaly, physical capacity and pulmonary resistance at various rates of perfusion. There was evidence of residual shunt in one of the patients at follow-up. This was also the only patient who had persisting cardiomegaly in the group. Exercise tests were as a rule within normal limits. Total pulmonary resistance (TPR) decreased in all instances and was abnormally elevated in 6 patients at the follow-up. as compared to 12 at the pre-operative study. Total pulmonary resistance index (TRP1) was abnormally elevated in 8 patients, as compared to 10 at the pre-operative study. Whereas TPR decreased from an average pre-operative level of 7.9 to 4.2, TPR1 average remained virtually unchanged. The two most hyper-resistive patients were found to have identically high resistance indices at the follow-up investigation, indicating litt...