Is direct closure dangerous for treatment of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect?

Background. We performed direct closure of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defects with aortic cusp prolapse. Postoperative echocardiographic studies showed that this method improved coaptation of the prolapsing aortic cusp, especially in patients with mild aortic regurgitation (AR). Methods. Twenty-one patients (mean age, 7.8 ± 4.3 years; range, 2 to 18 years) with doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect underwent direct closure alone. Aortic valve prolapse was observed in all 21 patients, with mild AR found in 13 patients but not in the remaining 8. The site of the prolapsed aortic valve was in the right coronary cusp in all patients. We inserted an interrupted 4-0 or 5-0 polypropylene suture with a pledget from the lower margin of the ventricular septal defect to the pulmonary ring to increase protrusion of the prolapsed cusp by pushing it back and to improve coaptation of the aortic cusp. Results. The interval between surgical treatment and the last postoperative evaluation ranged from 3 to 24 months (median, 11 months). No residual ventricular septal defect was detected in any patient. In the 8 patients who had aortic valve prolapse without AR preoperatively, no AR was found at follow-up. Of the 13 patients who had mild AR associated with aortic valve prolapse preoperatively, AR diminished in 7 and did not progress in the remaining 6. Furthermore, no anatomic changes in either the aortic or pulmonary annulus were found on follow-up echocardiography. In the group of 13 patients with mild preoperative AR, AR significantly persisted in patients who were more than 10 years old at operation (p < 0.05). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that direct closure for this type of ventricular septal defect is safe and reliable in improving mild AR and that direct closure is more effective for younger patients in whom the prolapsing aortic cusp is mobile enough to be protruded. However, further long-term follow-up studies will be needed to ascertain the adequacy and usefulness of the method.