Direct closure of ostium primum defect in the repair of atrioventricular septal defect

Background. Patch closure is generally performed for atrial septation of an atrioventricular septal defect. We recently developed a new surgical techn ique for repairing atrioventricular septal defects that avoids the use of a ny patch material for closing the atrial septal defect. We report our exper ience with this procedure. Methods. Seven patients (complete type: 5, partial type: 2) underwent this new operation. The diameters of the atrial septal defects were measured by transesophageal echocardiography. The preoperative electrocardiograms were compared with those taken after the operations. Results. Diameters of the atrial defects ranged from 3 to 10 mm. Electrocar diograms before and after the operations did not change. No significant atr ioventricular valve regurgitation and no residual shunts were detected by p ostoperative echocardiography. Conclusions. This method simplifies the repair of atrioventricular septal d efects. In the short-term results, no arrhythmia and no valve regurgitation was seen. (C) 2001 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.