Objective: To summarize the clinical experience and short-term outcome of minimally invasive occlusion in patients with peri-membranous ventricular septal defect (PmVSD) via right subaxillary route under trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance.
Methods: A total of 122 PmVSD patients treated in our hospital from 2014-01 to 2015-07 were summarized. There were 54 male and 68 female with the mean age of (2.7±2.2, 0.5-9.7) years, mean body weight of (13.9±6.0, 6.1-38.0) kg and mean PmVSD diameter of (3.8±0.8, 2.5-7.0) mm. The patients were taken left lateral position, a (2-3) cm incision was performed along right mid-axillary line between the 3rd rib and 4th rib, the thoracic entrance was at 4th inter-costal space. A purse-string suture was conducted on right atrial surface, a special hollow probe was inserted into right atrium and crossed tricuspid into right ventricle under TEE guidance; the probe was adjusted to the point or crossed VSD into left ventricle followed by guide wire insertion to establish a deliver pathway, and ifnally, occlusion device was regularly deployed to close the defect. Post-operative ECG, TEE and chest X-ray were conducted for followed-up study.
Results: There were 119/122 (98.4%) patients occluded successfully and 3 failed patients were converted to cardiopulmonary bypass surgery at the original incision. The average size of occluder was (4.9±1.1, 4-10) mm and all devices were concentric. The patients were followed up at the mean of (8.3±5.0, 1.0-19.8) months, during that period, 12/119 (10.1%) had new mild tricuspid regurgitation, 16 (13.4%) suffered from incomplete right bundle branch block, 4 (3.4%) had small residual shunt and 2 of them were self-closed at 1 and 3 months after operation respectively. There were no complete atrio-ventricular block, no new aortic valve regurgitation and no device dislocation.
Conclusion: Minimally invasive occlusion of PmVSD via right subaxillary route under TEE guidance was a safe, effective, feasible and better cosmetic method for treating relevant patients; while its long-term outcome should be further observed.

Objective To investigate the feasibility and safety of surgical device closure of doubly committed sub-arterial ventricular septal defect via left sub-axillary.Methods A total of 45 patients diagnosed as doubly committed sub-arterial ventricular septal defect (dcVSD) with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography(TEE) were enrolled from June 2014 to August 2016 in Henan Children Heart Center,Henan Provincial People's Hospital.There were 39 males and 6 females,with the mean age of (2.2 ±2.1) years old(0.5-8.0 years),the body weight (13.8 ± 7.1) kg(7.0-34.1 kg),the defect size (4.5 ± 1.0) mm (3.0-8.0 mm).After general anesthesia,the patients were in supine and evaluated by TEE which indicated whether they were fit to closure.Then,they were turned to the right lateral position while this technique was determined.A vertical incision of 2-3 cm was made between the third and the fifth intercostal space and invasion in thoracic space via fourth intercostal space.Puncture was done at the anterior surface of right ventricular outlet tract to build a delivery tract.The occluder was released and the VSD was occluded under transesophageal echocardiography guidance.Results Forty-one patients had a successful surgical dcVSD closure with asymmetric occluders sized (6.0 ± 1.5) mm(4-10 mm).Among 4 failure cases,2 cases (4.4％) were switched to open-heart surgical repair,1 case (2.2％) due to device related aortic regurgitation,the rest 1 case (2.2％) experienced a dislocation of occluder into pulmonary artery and was converted to surgical repair after retrieve of occluder.Trivial residual shunt was detected in 2 cases (4.4％) postoperatively,a spontaneous closure was observed by 1 month follow-up and 3 months follow-ups,respectively.All the patients were discharged 5 to 8 days after the operation.With a follow-up of (10.4 ±5.0) months [3-24 months],there were no complications such as pericardial effusion,displacement of device,atrioventricular block or new valvular dysfunction.Conclusions Minimally invasive device closure of doubly committed sub-arterial ventricular septal defect via left sub-axillary is a feasible and safe treatment for closure of dcVSD.This technique has advantages of minor wound,less exudation,covert incision,however,long term follow-up is necessary.

Objective To summarize the outcomes and the median follow －up finding of stage 1 surgical approaches of coarctation of aorta(CoA)combined with cardiac anomalies.Methods A retrospective study was per-formed for summarizing the operative and follow－up finding of 82 patients(40 males and 42 females)of CoA combined with cardiac anomalies,who underwent stage 1 repair from February 2013 to December 2016 at the Department of Cardio-vascular Surgery,Henan Provincial People's Hospital.The operative age was ranged from 1 month to 8 years old[mean (11.92 ± 22. 51)months]and the weight was (7.31 ± 6.79)kg. Forty －five cases had ventricular septal defect (VSD)or atrial septal defect (ASD).Septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus were found in 31 patients.CoA was associated with aortic arch hypoplasia in 5 patients.Complex cardiovascular deformity was found in 7 cases.The surgical methods included end－to－end anastomosis,end－to－side anastomosis and patch augmentation of the coarctation seg-ment.Results Seven patients died after operation,3 cases of them died of low cardiac output syndrome amd circulatory failure,1 case died of circulatory failure and respiratory failure,1 patient died of malignant arrhythmia,and 2 cases died of respiratory failure.Postoperative echocardiogram suggested that anastomosis maintained patency in all the patients. The follow－up time was 8 months to 4 years,63 patients were followed up,and follow－up rate was 77%.No death or aneurysm occurred during follow－up period.Recoarctation was found in 5 cases.Conclusions Stage 1 repair for CoA combined with cardiac anomalies is effective,and has low complications during postoperative and median follow－up period.Long－term results need further study.

Objective:To evaluate the medium-term clinical and hemodynamic outcomes of percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) using a domestic Venus-P self-expanding valve in the treatment of severe pulmonary regurgitation after Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).Methods:Retrospective study.From December 2017 to December 2020, 13 TOF patients with (17.8±4.7) years old and (50.2±12.3) kg underwent PPVI using the Venus-P self-expanding valve in the Department of Children′s Heart Center, Zhengzhou University People′s Hospital were recruited.The mean valve size was (31.9±3.1) mm.All patients received the transannular patch surgery and developed severe pulmonary regurgitation.After PPVI, 13 patients were followed up for at least 12 months.The operation-related complications, improvement of valve and heart function and the durability and reintervention of the Venus-P self-expanding valve were analyzed.The right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (RVEDVi) before and after operation was compared by the paired t-test, and the New York Heart Association (NYHA) class was compared by the paired Wilcoxon signed rank sum test. Results:PPVI was successfully performed in all 13 patients without death.At 6 months post-PPVI, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging findings showed that RVEDVi was significantly reduced[(145.7±9.6) mL/m 2vs.(100.2±12.2) mL/m 2, P<0.05], and the NYHA class was significantly improved ( P<0.05). One patient presented moderate pulmonary valve regurgitation at 12 months postoperatively.No vegetation was found on echocardiography, and blood culture was negative in this case.Six patients did not have postoperative pulmonary valve regurgitation, and the remaining presented mild or less pulmonary regurgitation.One patient had sudden ventricular tachycardia on the 6 th day postoperatively, which was converted to sinus rhythm after synchronous electrocardiography.Only one case underwent appendectomy 7 months after operation due to acute appendicitis, and the remaining did not require valve-related reintervention after implantation.During the follow-up for (22.8±8.0) months, no patients had perivalve leakage, stent migration and rupture.Complications like embolization and coronary artery compression were not reported. Conclusions:PPVI using the Venus-P self-expanding valve is safe and effective in patients with severe pulmonary valve regurgitation after TOF surgery, showing an acceptable medium-term follow-up outcome.Studies with a large sample size and long follow-up period are still needed to validate our findings.

Objective:To analyze the short and mid-term efficacy of aortic valvuloplasty with autopericardium on children with aortic valve diseases.Methods:A total of 26 children with aortic valve diseases (stenosis or regurgitation) who underwent aortic valvuloplasty with autopericardium in Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital from September 2017 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.The short-term and mid-term follow-up data were collected.The maximum aortic valve pressure gradient, subaortic regurgitation area, left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were compared before and after operation.Paired t test was used to analyze the short-term and mid-term efficacy of aortic valvuloplasty with autopericardium on children with aortic valve diseases. Results:All 26 cases were successfully operated, and there were no deaths and serious complications during the follow-up period of (22.96±6.45) months.There was a significant difference between the preoperative and postoperative maximum aortic valve pressure gradient at 1 month ( t=7.85, P<0.05), 6 months ( t=6.43, P<0.05), 1 year ( t=6.16, P<0.05) and 2 years postoperatively ( t=4.22, P<0.05) in children with aortic stenosis or that combined with mild-to-moderate closure.The follow-up data of 9 children with simple aortic stenosis showed that there was a significant difference between the preoperative (8.87±3.57) cm 2 and postoperative aortic regurgitation area at 1 month ( t=6.85, P<0.05), 6 months ( t=5.13, P<0.05), 1 year ( t=6.62, P<0.05) and 2 years postoperatively ( t=5.41, P<0.05). The LVEDV of 26 children was significantly lower at 6 months[(63.54±27.61) mL], 1 year [(53.61±20.20) mL] and 2 years postoperatively [(64.39±17.78) mL] compared with that of preoperative level[(89.42±45.89) mL]( t=3.89, 4.67, 3.58, all P<0.05). The left ventricular pressure and volume decreased, the enlarged heart was narrowed down, and the geometry of the heart was restored.The LVEF of 26 patients also from (61.65±9.67)% before surgery increased to (67.88±4.69)% 6 months after surgery( t=3.68, P<0.05), and increased to (68.62±4.46)% 1 year after surgery( t=4.01, P<0.05), and increased to (67.55±3.09)% 2 years after operation( t=3.01, P<0.05), and the heart function was improved. Conclusions:Aortic valvuloplasty with autopericardium presents an effective short and mid-term efficacy on children with aortic valve diseases, which prevents or delays the aortic valve replacement.

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is a congenital heart disease that causes blood communication between the left and right ventricles due to partial atrial septal tissue defects, accounting for about 13% of all heart malformations. Secondary ASD is the most common type of ASD and can generally be treated with minimally invasive closure. At present, the commonly used minimally invasive methods in clinical practice mainly include X-ray-guided percutaneous occlusion, transesophageal ultrasound-guided transthoracic occlusion and ultrasound-guided percutaneous occlusion. This review focuses on the basic research process of occluder materials, and advantages and disadvantages of three different surgical methods.