Alternative surgical management of post-infarction septal rupture: a case report

Weaning a patient from cardiopulmonary bypass after repair of a postinfarction ventricular septal defect in the face of severe right ventricular failure is likely to be fatal. The use of a ventricular assist device may seem to be the only available option. We present an alternative surgical approach that we carried out in a 72-year-old woman. The right ventricular preload was decreased by adding a bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis to the septal rupture repair.