Trans-esophageal echocardiography guided closure of ventricular septal defect with 2 occluders from different incisions simultaneously: A case report

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) accounts for up to 40% of all congenital cardiac malformations. Transthoracic closure of VSDs has been well described in literature. In the current report, we described a procedure to successfully close a VSD with 2 occluders from different incisions simultaneously under the guidance of trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE), to save the patient from undergoing another surgery. A 52-year-old man was referred to our clinic for repeating palpitations for 6 months without chest pain and polypnea after activity. The diagnosis of VSD was established due to the findings of a juxtatricuspid VSD with a left-to-right shunt at ventricular level and mild mitral regurgitation by TTE. A transcatheter VSD closure was firstly performed but failed to repair the VSD. After the failure of transcatheter VSD closure, the patient received transthoracic closure of VSD operated by a cardiac surgeon. The VSD was closed with 2 occluders from different incisions (median thoracic skin incision and subxiphoid incision) simultaneously under the TEE guidance. The patient was extubated in intensive care unit and was discharged 4 days after the operation. During the follow up, there were no significant clinical nor laboratory side-effects of the procedure found as compared to the patient's condition before the procedure. VSD can be closed with 2 occluders from different incisions simultaneously under the TEE guidance to save the patient from undergoing repeated surgeries. Meanwhile, TEE plays a significant role in cardiac surgery.