VENTRICULAR SEPTAL DEFECT WITH SHUNT FROM LEFT VENTRICLE TO RIGHT ATRIUM BACTERIAL ENDOCARDITIS AS A COMPLICATION* BY

During a two-year period we have seen six patients with malformations of the ventricular septum resulting in the shunting of blood between the left ventricle and the right atrium. Surgical closure of the defect has been successful in all. A history of bacterial endocarditis was established in two patients and strongly suspected in two others before operation. The surprisingly large number of patients with a malformation previously considered rare and the unusually high incidence of endo-carditis as a complication prompted a review of the anatomical and clinical features of this anomaly. There have been 26 patients reported with left ventricular to right atrial shuntst on whom relatively complete clinical studies are available (Perry, Burchell, and Edwards, 1949; Stahlman et al.