Early Ventricular Septal Defect Closure Prevents the Progression of Aortic Regurgitation: A Long-Term Follow-Up Study

According to current short-term evidence, ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure should be performed as early as possible after aortic regurgitation (AR) diagnosis in pediatric patients to prevent AR progression. However, long-term follow-up data are lacking. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate the long-term follow-up (≥ 10 years) of patients who underwent VSD closure as early as possible after AR diagnosis and to evaluate whether early VSD closure prevents progression of AR. This was a retrospective cohort study of 42 patients with VSD and AR who had undergone VSD closure at a median age of 2.9 years, with a median waiting period from AR diagnosis to VSD closure of 3.4 months and follow-up of a median 13.1 years (interquartile range 10.0-15.8 years). The preoperative degree of AR was trivial in 25 patients, mild in 15, and moderate in 2. Of the 33 patients followed up for ≥ 10 years, none required aortic valve replacement and there was no incidence of mortality. The degree of AR improved or did not change, except in 1 patient. The size of the VSD (odds ratio [OR] 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62-1.18; p = 0.33), time from diagnosis to surgery (OR 1.00; 95% CI 1.000-1.001; p = 0.657), and age at the time of surgery (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.998-1.004; p = 0.452) were not predictive of persistent postoperative AR. Therefore, VSD closure performed as early as possible after AR diagnosis could successfully prevent AR progression in patients with less than moderate preoperative AR, eliminating the need for aortic valve replacement and valvuloplasty.