Early repair of postinfarction ventricular septal defect with gelatin-resorcin-formol biological glue

Background. Early surgical repair of postinfarction ventricular septal defect has improved early mortality rate. Mortality remains high in patients presenting within 1 week of infarction, or when rupture has occurred in the inferior part of the septum. Methods. We describe a surgical technique for repair of postinfarction ventricular septal defect that involves no infarctectomy: continuous suturing of a bovine pericardial patch to healthy myocardium around the infarcted area and use of gelatin-resorcin-formol biological glue as a sealant between the patch and the interventricular septum. Results. We have used this technique successfully in 3 consecutive patients in whom repair was performed within 1 week of myocardial infarction. The rupture of the interventricular septum was located anteriorly in 2 patients and inferiorly in the other. They all made an uneventful recovery, and at follow-up there was no evidence of residual shunt. Conclusions. This technique can be a useful adjunct to the surgical management of this difficult group of patients.