Mid-term aortic valve outcomes after surgical repair of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect

Background: Data on aortic valve outcomes following surgical repair of doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect remain limited. Methods: This retrospective study included doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect patients who underwent surgical repair at our centre from 2013 to 2023. The primary outcome was the incidence of new-onset aortic regurgitation during follow-up. Results: A total of 320 patients were included, with a median age of 2.0 (0.9–7.2) years. Among them, 289 patients underwent surgical repair alone (repair group), and 31 received additional aortic valve surgery (repair + aortic valve surgery group). Preoperatively, 58 (18.1%) patients exhibited aortic regurgitation ≥ mild (10.7% in the repair group vs 87.1% in the repair + aortic valve surgery group, P < 0.001). The overall median follow-up was 40.5 (16.0–72.0) months. At the last follow-up, 23 (7.4%) patients had aortic regurgitation ≥ mild (3.8 vs 52.2%, P < 0.001), and 6 (1.9%) had aortic regurgitation > mild (0.3 vs 21.7%, P < 0.001). Sixteen (5.1%) patients developed new-onset aortic regurgitation during follow-up (1.7 vs 47.8%, log-rank P < 0.001), and 6 (1.9%) of them developed new-onset aortic regurgitation > mild (0.3 vs 21.7%, log-rank P < 0.001). Age, ventricular septal defect size, preoperative aortic regurgitation > mild, and maximum aortic valve flow velocity (AVmax) were related to concurrent aortic valve surgery and new-onset aortic regurgitation. Conclusions: Based on our retrospective data, the mid-term aortic valve outcomes after doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect repair were relatively satisfactory, with a low incidence of new-onset aortic regurgitation during follow-up. However, aortic valve outcomes for patients who received concurrent aortic valve surgery were less satisfactory.