OBJECTIVES: We report the long-term all-cause mortality and procedure-related complication rate following transcatheter closure of postinfarction ventricular septal rupture (VSR) in a single tertiary center.

BACKGROUND: VSR is an exceedingly serious and deathly complication to myocardial infarction. Surgical closure has previously been the treatment of choice, but in the last decade a transcatheter approach has gained ground. However, reports on long-term survival are still sparse and experience is often restricted to large tertiary centers with high flow of patients.

METHODS: From January 2000 to April 2013, 9 patients underwent transcatheter closure of a VSR at Aarhus University Hospital. Primary device closure was chosen mainly because of significant risk factors against surgery. Our major endpoints were 30-day, 1-year, and 5-year mortality and years of survival until time of evaluation.

RESULTS: Our cohort had a mean age of 75.1 ± 8.4 years, and the median time from VSR to closure was 16 days (2-346). The 30-day, 1-year, and 5-year mortality rates were 11.1%, 33.3%, and 62.5%, respectively. Mean time of postprocedural survival was 4.6 ± 4.4 years at the time of review. Three patients were still alive at the time of review, 1 with a shock-index <1 at the time of VSR closure.

CONCLUSIONS: As a single medium-sized tertiary center, we report lower short- and long-term mortality rates compared with most published data on outcome after surgical closure. Our results are comparable to the few previously published reports on transcatheter closure of postinfarction VSRs.