title: [Surgical correction of symptomatic ventricular septal defects in patients less than 6 months of age].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our objective was to evaluate the efficiency of a single surgical intervention in patients with symptomatic interventricular septal defects during the first six months of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1989 and 1997, 42 patients, 20 males and 22 females with an average age of 3.9 +/- 0.3 months and an average weight of 4 +/- 0.4 kg, were operated. Seven suffered from Down's syndrome. All of the patients became symptomatic during the first two months of life. The defect was localized by using Echo-Doppler in all of the cases. Thirty-six had perimembranous ventricular septal defects, 2 were muscular, 3 multiple and 1 was infundibular. The average defect size was 8 +/- 1.2 mm. A catheter was placed in 34 patient with the following results: Left to right shunt with 2.2 +/- 1.2, right ventricle systolic pressure of 57 +/- 20 mmHg (16 with systemic pulmonary pressure) and an average pulmonary pressure of 38 +/- 1.8 mmHg. The average pulmonary vascular resistance was 28 +/- 1.8 U/m2. Deep hypothermia (18 degrees C was applied during the surgery and the average cardiac arrest time was 31 +/- 4 minutes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  None of the patients died during or after the surgical procedure. Patients required minimum ionotropic support during the first hours. The average time in the intensive care unit was 3.5 +/- 0.6 days, with an average hospitalization time of 11.2 +/- 2.1 days. Immediate complications included one hypertensive crisis, four junctional ectopic tachycardias, two atrio-ventricular blocks, 1 transient arrhythmia, two atelectasia-pneumonias, two patients with stridor and two sternal infections. During the follow-up period, two patients required a second intervention to repair the patch.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We believe that one-time surgery is adequate to correct symptomatic ventricular septal defects.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Infantil de Cruces, Vizcaya.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cabrera Duro
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martínez Corrales
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Llorente Urcullo
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aramburu Arriaga
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodrigo Carbonero
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alcíbar Villa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pastor Menchaca
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Navarro Quintana
mesh_terms: D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies