Atrial septal defect closure via a partial lower ministernotomy.

Patients with secundum atrial septal defects preferentially undergo device closure;  however, this procedure is not always feasible. Instead, patients can safely undergo surgical closure. At a time when minimally invasive surgery can now be utilized with improved cosmetic results and the same excellent outcomes as a conventional sternotomy for an atrial septal defect closure, we propose the partial lower ministernotomy as the new standard for surgical atrial septal defect closure.

Bicuspid aortic valve repair with autologous aortic wall patches in an adolescent with acute severe regurgitation after balloon dilatation.

An adolescent with bicuspid aortic valve presented with severe aortic stenosis and underwent a balloon valvuloplasty, that resulted in severe acute aortic insufficiency. Herein we demonstrate an aortic valve repair using an autologous aortic wall patch and aortic root stabilisation.