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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 August 2008
The outcome of primary repair in young infants having atrioventricular septal defect with a common atrioventricular orifice and regurgitation across the left atrioventricular valve is not yet satisfactory. We studied the significance of the characteristics of left ventricular volume and mass and the predicted wall stress for the outcome of repair in 13 infants with this lesion. Three patients died of left heart failure after operation, although neither residual shunting at ventricular level nor regurgitation across the left atrioventricular valve was present. End-diastolic volume and ejection fraction of the left ventricle were 228 ±66% and 0.65 ±0.06 of normal, respectively, with no difference between the survivors and non-survivors. End-diastolic thickness of the posterior ventricular wall, determined by echocardiogram, was within normal range for body size in all patients.