Late follow-up after thoracoscopic ductal ligation.

Interventional catheterization and minimally invasive surgical techniques offer the real possibility of a reduction in cost and morbidity when compared with the traditional surgical approach to patent ductus arteriosus. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery may prove to be a superior technique because of its application to a wider range of patients needing ductal closure, a lower incidence of residual shunting, no evidence for recurrent shunting, and the absence of intravascular foreign bodies.