Surgical management of ventricular septal defect complicating myocardial infarction

In an 18 month period six patients were treated by operation for ventricular septal defect occurring as a complication of acute myocardial infarction. Each septal defect occurred within one week of the myocardial infarct but the interval from infarction to operation ranged from 8 days to 7 months. All patients had intractable cardiac failure and two were in cardiogenic shock at the time of operation. Preoperatively right and left heart catheterisation with left ventriculography and biplane coronary arteriography was performed in every case. At operation the principle of "total correction" of all the cardiac defects was followed so that in addition to closure of the septal defect each patient required one or more additional operative procedures such as resection of left ventricular infarct or aneurysm, mitral valve replacement or coronary artery vein bypass grafts. All six patients survived operation but one died four weeks postoperatively from perforation of an acute peptic ulcer. In one patient the ventricular septal defect recurred and was successfully closed four months later. The surviving patients remain well at follow-up.