Atrial septal defect repair through limited lateral thoracotomy in children.
OBJECTIVE
We have developed a surgical method for atrial septal defect repair through a limited right lateral thoracotomy in which the incision line begins 2 cm caudal from the lower angle of the scapula and ends at the midaxial line, thereby improving patient satisfaction with the cosmetic results of treatment.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of 28 patients who underwent isolated atrial septal defect repair through a limited right lateral thoracotomy between January 2002 and August 2004. The mean age and mean body weight at the time of the operation were 85.8 months (range 9-236 months) and 23.0 kg (range 8.0-56.0 kg), respectively. All repaired defects were the ostium secundum type.


RESULTS
There was no operative or late mortality and no late morbidity after a mean follow-up of 26 months (range 12-41 months). Echocardiography showed no residual shunt in any of the patients. The mean length of the skin incision was 7.8 cm (range 5.0-11.0 cm), and almost all the patients had satisfactory cosmetic results.


CONCLUSIONS
The atrial septal defect repair through a limited right lateral thoracotomy in pediatric patients showed satisfactory surgical results and excellent cosmetic results.
Shinkawa
Takeshi
T
Department of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, Children's Research Hospital, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan.
Yamagishi
Masaaki
M
Shuntoh
Keisuke
K
Miyazaki
Takako
T
Hisaoka
Takahiro
T
Inoue
Tomoya
T
Yaku
Hitoshi
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome