Does direct visualization of peripatch areas in beating heart eliminate the risk of residual ventricular septal defect in adult patients?

AIM: Although the incidence of residual ventricular septal defect (VSD) following surgical therapy in the modern series is very low, especially the risk of hemodynamically insignificant shunt still exists. Intraoperative assessment of residual shunt is useful in identifying patients at risk of having subsequently required reoperation and reintervention for residual VSD before chest closure.

METHODS

In 87 patients who were operated because of isolated VSD (Group I), VSD was closed under cardioplegic arrest and right atriotomy or right ventriculotomy were closed in the beating heart after aortic cross-clamp removal. The VSD patch was watched out for residual shunt and additional sutures were placed if it existed. Results of this technique have been compared with the other 216 (Group II) in which all procedures of the VSD closure were performed under cardioplegic arrest. Transosephageal echocardiography (TEE) was performed for evidence of residual shunting intraoperatively and postoperatively in all patients.

RESULTS

In group I, additional sutures were placed for residual shunt in 14 patients (16.1%), and insignificant residual shunt was detected in only one (1.1%) patient at early postoperative period (p<0.05, according to group II). In group II, there was hemodynamically insignificant residual shunt in 31 patients (14.5%), and 9 patients (4.2%) were reoperated for significant shunt (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Transatrial or transventricular inspection to peripatch areas in the beating heart is a safe technique to detect a residual shunt, an observation that may eliminate reoperation.