{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T19:48:26Z","timestamp":1782244106648,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782086400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCDD"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Ventricular septal defects (VSD) are the most common form of congenital heart disease (CHD). Current guidelines recommend surveillance transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) following surgical closure of perimembranous VSDs (pVSD); however, duration of screening is not explicitly stated. The goal of this study is to determine the utility of follow-up TTEs after uncomplicated pVSD surgical closure. Methods: Single-site retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who underwent pVSD surgical closure. Patients were excluded if diagnosed with other CHD, had complications 1 year post-repair, or lacked data 1 year post-repair. Serial TTEs were reviewed. A Kaplan\u2013Meier curve was used to illustrate the 5-year complication-free survival. Results: A total of 117 patients met inclusion criteria. A 97% 5-year complication-free survival was observed. Four patients had complications &gt;1 year post-repair: one non-obstructive subaortic ridge, one pulmonary vein stenosis, one pinhole residual pVSD, and one ventricular ectopy with ventricular dysfunction. Of the 113 complication-free patients, 197 TTEs were performed with no change in clinical management. Conclusions: Beyond 1 year post-repair, the occurrence of new complications following uncomplicated pVSD surgical closure is rare. Unless clinical concerns arise, the utility of routine TTEs &gt; 1 year post-repair in this uncomplicated post-surgical cohort should be reassessed. Larger multicenter studies are needed to determine the utility of routine TTEs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcdd13060281","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T18:35:05Z","timestamp":1782239705000},"page":"281","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Utility of Follow-Up Surveillance Echocardiograms in Uncomplicated Surgical Closures of Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defects: A Preliminary Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Macala","family":"Maney","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Heart Center, Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-8710-1097","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carson","family":"Richardson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Biostatistics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"},{"name":"Biostatistics Resource at Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4025-1327","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isaac","family":"Kistler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Biostatistics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"},{"name":"Biostatistics Resource at Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samantha","family":"Fichtner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Heart Center, Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9743-5902","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hannah","family":"Jacobs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Heart Center, Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie B.","family":"Aldrich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Heart Center, Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9172-3874","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clifford L.","family":"Cua","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Heart Center, Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1890","DOI":"10.1016\/S0735-1097(02)01886-7","article-title":"The Incidence of Congenital Heart Disease","volume":"39","author":"Hoffman","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Am. Coll. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1001","article-title":"Ventricular septal defect and associated complications","volume":"61","author":"Chaudhry","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Pak. Med. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2190","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCULATIONAHA.106.618124","article-title":"Ventricular Septal Defects","volume":"114","author":"Minette","year":"2006","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"544\u2013549","DOI":"10.1016\/j.athoracsur.2009.10.057","article-title":"Current expectations for surgical repair of isolated ventricular septal defects","volume":"89","author":"Scully","year":"2010","journal-title":"Ann. Thorac. Surg."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1358","DOI":"10.1016\/0735-1097(94)90120-1","article-title":"Long-term follow-up after surgical closure of ventricular septal defect in infancy and childhood","volume":"24","author":"Meijboom","year":"1994","journal-title":"J. Am. Coll. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"657","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2019.10.002","article-title":"ACC\/AHA\/ASE\/HRS\/ISACHD\/SCAI\/SCCT\/SCMR\/SOPE 2020 Appropriate Use Criteria for Multimodality Imaging During the Follow-Up Care of Patients with Congenital Heart Disease","volume":"75","author":"Sachdeva","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Am. Coll. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1941","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2015.02.055","article-title":"The unnatural history of the ventricular septal defect: Outcome up to 40 years after surgical closure","volume":"65","author":"Menting","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Am. Coll. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4153","DOI":"10.1093\/eurheartj\/ehaa701","article-title":"The ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Adult Congenital Heart Disease 2020","volume":"41","author":"Baumgartner","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. Heart J."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"641","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtcvs.2012.11.032","article-title":"Contemporary outcomes of surgical ventricular septal defect closure","volume":"145","author":"Anderson","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"822","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2025.09.006","article-title":"2025 ACC\/AHA\/HRS\/ISACHD\/SCAI Guideline for the Management of Adults with Congenital Heart Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology\/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines","volume":"87","author":"Gurvitz","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Am. Coll. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"563","DOI":"10.1093\/eurheartj\/ehaa554","article-title":"2020 ESC Guidelines for the management of adult congenital heart disease","volume":"42","author":"Baumgartner","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur. Heart J."}],"container-title":["Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2308-3425\/13\/6\/281\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T19:12:55Z","timestamp":1782241975000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2308-3425\/13\/6\/281"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]]},"references-count":11,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]}},"alternative-id":["jcdd13060281"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcdd13060281","relation":{},"ISSN":["2308-3425"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2308-3425","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]]}}}