Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a hole in the wall between the right and left ventricles of the heart.

• most common type of congenital (present at birth) heart defect
• occurs in 1 to 3 out of every 1,000 births
• more common in premature infants

How Children’s Hospital Boston treats VSD

Doctors at Children’s have revolutionized a way to treat VSD, and other congenital heart defects, without open heart surgery. In addition, Children’s has begun using angioplasty valve enlargement in order to preserve the pulmonary valve in treatment of VSD, thereby reducing the need for surgery at all.