Aneurysm of the Membranous Ventricular Septum Associated with a Small Defect in a Woman, Aged Seventy-Eight

An autopsied case was presented of a 78-year-old woman with the membranous septal aneurysm having a small defect complicated with motor and speech disturbances probably due to softening of the brain. The rare longevity and anatomical features of septal defect of the patient were discussed. The cause of her death was not cardiac failure or bacterial endocarditis but pneumonia and urinary tract infection. Despite the high incidence of ventricular septal defect (VSD) among children with congenital heart disease, in adult it is infrequently found, compared with other lesions such as atrial septal defect. Among many case reports and reviews of literature in this field, it was unanimously conceived that VSD could seldom survive to the age of more than 70.1)-3) It would, therefore, be worth while to present a 78-year-old patient with the membranous septal aneurysm associated with a small defect and to discuss the long-term survival of this case.