title: Late functional results after surgical closure of acquired ventricular septal defect.
abstract: To assess the longer term outlook for patients who have undergone surgery for acquired (postinfarction) ventricular septal defect, we interviewed and studied 60 survivors from a single regional cardiac center between 3 and 144 months after the operation. Including the patients who died within 1 month of the operation, the 5-, 10-, and 14-year survivals (with standard errors) were 69% (65% to 74%), 50% (44% to 57%), and 37% (27% to 46%). Eighty-two percent of patients were in New York Heart Association class I or II. Ten patients (17%) had a persisting but not hemodynamically significant ventricular septal defect. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction was reduced at 0.39 (standard deviation 0.15), but this did not correlate with either New York Heart Association class or exercise tolerance. Twenty-eight patients (47%) had asymptomatic arrhythmias (17 with ventricular premature beats). Angina and other medical problems were not prevalent.
authors.affiliation: Wessex Cardiac Unit, Southampton General Hospital, England.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Dawkins
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Skillington
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lewington
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Monro
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Conway
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Whitaker
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome