Complete Repair of Coarctation of the Aorta and a Ventricular Septal Defect in a 1,480 g Low Birth Weight Neonate

ABSTRACT

Although outcomes of neonatal cardiac surgery have dramatically improved in the last two decades, low body weight still constitutes an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality. In particular, cardiac surgery in neonates with very low birth weight (< or =1.5 kg) is carried out with greater risk because most organ systems are immature. We report here on a successful case of early one-stage total repair of coarctation of the aorta and a ventricular septal defect in a 1,480 gram neonate.