Ventricular septal defects in the infant age group

An analysis was made of the 23 cases of isolated ventricular septal defects seen at autopsy over a 20-year period at a children's hospital. All of the deaths occurred during the first 15 months of life. In addition to the clinical and morphologic findings, cardiac catheterization data obtained on 6 of the infants are presented. A wide range of electrocardiographic variation with respect to ventricular hypertrophy was found. No simple relationship between the size of the defect and the clinical manifestations could be demonstrated. The surgical implications of the findings are discussed.