Surgical treatment of atrioventricular canal malformations.

This study reports our experience with a consecutive series of 106 patients with atrioventricular (AV) canal malformations operated on between March, 1972, and June, 1985. There were 11 ostium primum defects, 90 partial forms of AV canal, and 5 complete forms of AV canal. Associated cardiovascular lesions were found in 26 patients. Operation was performed under total-body perfusion. There were 5 postoperative deaths, and the overall mortality was 4.7%. Eighty-seven patients were followed up. Follow-up averaged 6 years 7 months. The study shows that the long-term results in patients with mild preoperative mitral insufficiency are better than those with severe mitral insufficiency, and suggests that partial approximation of the mitral cleft is probably the method of choice in most patients.