What are the symptoms and signs of a ventricular septal defect? If the defect is large, the child may have the following symptoms: rapid heart rate; difficulty feeding; heart murmur: usually detected by the physician on auscultation. What is the treatment for ventricular septal defect? The treatment of this condition depends on the general condition of the child and the size of the defect. The doctor will be limited to see if it will heal on its own. Many small defects will heal on their own by age 2. If your child has a ventricular defect that requires surgery, your child’s doctor will wait until he or she is older and stronger. Before surgery, some children may need medication to treat the symptoms. During surgery to repair a VSD, the surgeon will place a patch or blocker over the defect to treat it. What are the results of the treatment? Ventricular septal defect is a curative disease after surgery. The child’s quality of life is the same as normal.