No Ventricular Septal Defect Patch Atrioventricular Septal Defect Repair

For the past 10 years, our center has used the no ventricular septal defect patch atrioventricular septal defect repair proposed independently by Wilcox and Nicholson. The technique emphasizes direct closure of the ventricular element of the defect and a pericardial patch for the atrial component. A particular advantage of the operation is that it lends itself to repair in the smaller infant, which allows operative repair at 3-4 months of age, decreasing the risk of perioperative problems with pulmonary hypertension. The result of this strategy at multiple centers is a very low operative mortality, a low incidence of left atrioventricular valve reoperation, and an extremely low incidence of need for a pacemaker.