Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a temporizing approach in a patient with shock, myocardial infarct, and a large ventricle septal defect; successful repair after six days.

Rupture of the ventricular septum occurs in 1% to 2% of all acute myocardial infarctions (MI) requiring surgical intervention in the majority of cases. Furthermore, patch dehiscence and residual shunt are major problems following repair in the acute stage. A delay in repair may prevent patch dehiscence. We now describe the technique used for a successful repair of a ruptured ventricular septal defect following six days of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support.