Minimally invasive surgical closure of patent ductus arteriosus in premature infants: a novel approach.

Recent advancement of minimally invasive cardiac surgical procedures have prompted the use of minimal incisions to perform operations on patients with congenital heart defects. In this report, we describe a new technique for closure of a patent ductus arteriosus, using an anterior extrapleural approach. We present our technique and results in five low-weight infants. This approach is safe and effective, shortens hospital stay, and is less invasive than classical approaches.