Delayed closure of multiple muscular ventricular septal defects in an infant after coarctation repair and a hybrid procedure--a case report.

There are several strategies of surgical approach for the repair of multiple muscular ventricular septal defects (mVSDs), but none leads to a fully predictable, satisfactory therapeutic outcome in infants. We followed a concept of treating multiple mVSDs consisting of a hybrid approach based on intraoperative perventricular implantation of occluding devices. In this report, we describe a 2-step procedure consisting of a final hybrid approach for multiple mVSDs in the infant following initial coarctation repair with pulmonary artery banding in the newborn. At 7 months, sternotomy and debanding were performed, the right ventricle was punctured under transesophageal echocardiographic guidance, and the 8-mm device was implanted into the septal defect. Color Doppler echocardiography results showed complete closure of all VSDs by 11 months after surgery, probably via a mechanism of a localized inflammatory response reaction, ventricular septum growth, and implant endothelization.