How to choose the treatment for ventricular septal defect

  Ventricular septal defect is the most common congenital heart malformation, accounting for more than 30% of all congenital heart diseases. If ventricular defects can be treated promptly and accurately, children can mostly be completely restored to normal levels. Therefore, timely and correct diagnosis and treatment of ventricular septal defect will benefit many children for life.  Currently, there are three main treatment methods for ventricular septal defect: surgery, interventional treatment, and minimally invasive small incision blocking treatment.  Conventional surgery, as the most classic treatment method, can complete the treatment of all ventricular septal defects, but it has become an impatient choice for patients and their families because of its large surgical trauma, long postoperative recovery time, and obvious surgical scars, etc. At present, based on the conventional incision, the cardiothoracic surgery department of Xinhua Hospital adopts a small axillary incision for some children who can only be treated by conventional direct vision surgery, which achieves more optimization such as concealing the incision, small surgical scars and maintaining the stability of the sternum while ensuring the surgical effect, and provides a better treatment option for the children.  Interventional treatment of ventricular septal defect is a more hot treatment method in recent years, which is more easily accepted by the majority of patients because of its advantages such as less trauma, faster patient recovery and no surgical incision. However, in fact, only a small percentage of ventricular septal defects are suitable for interventional treatment. The type, location and size of ventricular septal defect have strict requirements for interventional treatment, and only by strictly mastering the indications can we avoid complications and truly benefit patients. Our department routinely conducts comprehensive evaluation of patients’ specific conditions before surgery, and prefers interventional treatment for those patients who are suitable for it, so that as many patients as possible can benefit from it while ensuring patient safety.  As a newer treatment technique, minimally invasive small incisional occlusion has its unique advantages. Compared with conventional surgery, it can significantly reduce the surgical trauma and can be completed with only a small incision, without the assistance of extracorporeal circulation, with little systemic reaction, short operation time and fast recovery. Compared with interventional surgery, the scope of indications can be significantly expanded, and the surgery can also be performed on children with low weight. In recent years, the minimally invasive small incision blocking procedure carried out by our department has enabled many children to obtain satisfactory treatment while avoiding the pain of conventional surgery.  The above treatment techniques are all surgical techniques routinely carried out in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department of Xinhua Hospital. We will select the most appropriate treatment for patients according to their specific conditions, so as to ensure the efficacy while maximizing the benefits to patients.