BACKGROUND Simple ventricular septal defect(VSD) is the most common congenital heart disease. Although closure of VSD is currently associated with a relatively low risk, experience with younger and smaller infants has been variably less satisfactory. We assessed the results of surgical closure of VSD in infant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1996 and 2000, 45 non-restrictive VSD patients underwent patch repair and retrospective analysis was done. Patients were divided into two groups based on weight: group I infants weighed 5kg or less(n=16), and group II infants weighed more than 5kg(n=29). Both groups had similar variation in sex, VSD location, aortic cross clamp time and total bypass time. But combined diseases (ASD, PDA, MR) were more in group I. We closed VSD with patch and used simple continuous suture method in all patients. RESULTS: There were no operative mortality, no reoperation for hemodynamically significant residual shunt and no surgically induced complete heart block. As a complication, pneumonia(group I: 2 cases, group II: 2 cases), transient seizure(group II: 2), wound infection(group I: 1, group II: 1), urinary tract infection(group I: 1) and chylopericardium(group I: 1) developed, and there was no significant difference between two groups(p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Early primary closure with simple continuous suture method was applicable in all patients with non-restrictive VSD without any serious complications.
During the period of 9.5 years from September, 1985 to March, 1995, 32 cases with spontaneous closure in simple ventricular septal defect(VSD) were observed and evaluated at Yeungnam University Hospital, and those were confirmed by 2D-echocardiogram. The results were as follows: 1. Among these 32 cases, there were 23 cases(71.9%) of perimembranous VSD, 8 cases(25.0%) of muscular VSD and 1 case(3.1%) of subarterial VSD. Septal aneurysms appears to be main mechanism of spontaneous closure of VSD because of the presence of septal aneurysm in all cases with spontaneous ',;losure of a perimembranous VSD. 2. The size of the defect was variable in diameter, but 27 cases(81.2%) were less than 5 mm. 3. The mean age was 12.1 months at spontaneous closure with the range from 1 month old to 72 months. 4. The mean weight was 9.0 kg at spontaneous closure. 5.--Among these 32 cases, 3 cases had the clinical evidence of cardimegaly or congestive hert -failure during infancy. 6. Male to female sex ratio was 1.5:1