Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a fairly common heart defect that is congenital, or present at birth. The defect is a hole in the heart that occurs in the lower chambers and causes the heart to have to work much harder to pump blood. A small VSD may not require surgery, but large holes need to be repaired early in life to prevent future complications. As the graph above shows, from January 2015 to December 2018, children who received VSD repair at Le Bonheur had a 100 percent survival rate.
Surgery is conducted by specially-trained pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons
Why this is important: Transparency and focus on sustained program performance are hallmarks of the best heart programs in the nation. Le Bonheur surgeons consistently perform better than the national average, making Le Bonheur a great choice for your child’s surgery and continued care.
Le Bonheur’s Heart Institute measures quality using data compiled by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, or STS. STS gathers data from other top pediatric heart programs in the country, and publishes that information twice a year. This information helps us benchmark ourselves among other top pediatric heart programs.
