ABSTRACT
The pathological finding of a VSD was first described by Roger in 1879. Eisenmenger in 1897 described the autopsy findings of a 32-year-old cyanotic patient with a large VSD and overriding aorta. The first surgical intervention for VSD was in 1952 when Muller and Dammann performed a pulmonary artery band to limit the pulmonary artery blood flow in a patient with a large VSD. The first intracardiac repair of a VSD was in 1954 by C. Walton Lillehei at the University of Minnesota. Lillehei used controlled cross-circulation with the child’s parent acting as the pump oxygenator. John Kirklin and associates at the Mayo Clinic reported successful transventricular repair of a VSD using a mechanical pump oxygenator in 1956. In 1961 Kirklin reported successful repair of a VSD in infancy thereby eliminating the need for a pulmonary artery band.
