ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the value of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in transthoracic minimally invasive device closure of ventricular septal defect(VSD).Methods A total of 164 cases of VSD were recruited as candidates to receive transthoracic minimally invasive device closure between January 2007 and October 2010,including 138 perimembranous VSDs,3 muscular VSDs and 23 supracristal VSDs.Among these groups,85 male patients were included.Four-champer view,five-champer view,left ventricular long-axis view,short-axis view and right ventricular inflow view were detected to evaluate the availability of device closure.Results A total of 152 cases(92.7%)were successfully closed with a device.All the patients were followed up more than 3 months arranged with a standard protocol.No complete atrioventricular block (CAVB) or associated valvular complications were observed.Three of the five cases with traced residual shunt after device closure closed spontaneously.Conclusion TEE plays an important role in transthoracic minimally invasive device closure of ventricular septal defect,which has been proved by the good follow-up results without CAVB and associated valvular complications.