Background: Video-assisted thoracic surgery has been shown to be a safe and effective method of closing the patent ductus arteriosus in infants and children. We have applied this technique in low birth weight premature infants and now report our experience.
Methods: Since 1996, we have used video-assisted thoracic surgery ligation as the treatment of choice for all patent ductus arteriosus, including 100 performed on premature infants (23 to 31 weeks' gestation, mean 25.