Long-term outcome of patients with ventricular septal defect considered not to require surgical closure during childhood.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to assess the long-term outcome of patients with small ventricular septal defects (VSDs) considered not to require surgical closure during childhood.

Background: Although patients with small VSDs have generally been considered not to require surgery, more recent data suggest that a significant percentage of these patients develop serious problems during adult life.

Methods: A total of 229 consecutive patients (115 females) with a VSD considered too small to require surgery during childhood as defined by normal pulmonary artery pressure, less than 50% shunt, pulmonary vascular resistance < or =200 dynes x s cm(-5), no VSD-related aortic regurgitation (AR), and no symptoms and who had no additional hemodynamically relevant heart defect were followed in an adult congenital heart disease program.