Complete atrioventricular canal: anatomic study and presentation of a new technique for total correction

A new surgical technique for total correction of complete common atrioventricular canal was evolved from study of 34 specimens from affected infants who had died in the first year of life. An interventricular patch was fashioned to reconstruct the interventricular septum and the atrioventricular valves. The patch had two distinct components, one superior or atrial and the other inferior or ventricular. The division was made by inserting a lateral support at different levels on either face of the patch, to which the anterior and posterior atrioventricular cusps were sutured. The interatrial defect was closed with a patch that, together with the atrial component of the interventricular patch, produced a foramen ovale type closure mechanism. The authors present the pathologic observations which served as a basis for development of the surgical technique.