The cross sectional anatomy of ventricular septal defects: a reappraisal.

The cross sectional echocardiographic description of holes in the ventricular septum has been unsatisfactory, chiefly because there are so many classifications of this defect. The accurate description of the anatomy of individual defects, from cross sectional images, is more important than attempts to fit them into a preconceived classification. One hundred specimens of hearts with a ventricular septal defect were reviewed to identify those features that are of value in the interpretation of cross sectional images. Three groups of defect were identified: those which abutted the central fibrous body, those with a margin partly formed by an area of fibrous continuity between the leaflets of the aortic and pulmonary valves, and those with entirely muscular margins. Each group had features that were readily discernible in cross section. Other features of the defects seen in the cross sectional images identified defects that opened between the two ventricular inlets, defects that opened between the two subarterial outlets, and those that extended solely into the trabecular septum. The criteria for describing the anatomy of defects were established in hearts with normal connections, but they were found to be equally applicable in hearts with discordant atrioventricular connection, discordant ventriculoarterial connection, common arterial trunk, and double outlet from the morphologically right ventricle. Cross sectional imaging, by echocardiography and potentially by other techniques, provided a uniquely detailed and precise description of the morphology of ventricular septal defects.