Introduction
Atrial septal defects (ASD) can be found in different sites of the interatrial septum depending on their embryological origin. Sinus venosus ASD (SV ASD) are interatrial defects morphologically adjacent to the outlet of the superior (SVC) or inferior vena cava (IVC) [1]. Surgical closure of this type of defects is sometimes challenging due to a difficult surgical exposure (e.g. extension into the inferior vena cava orifice) or misidentification of contiguous structures (e.g. an enlarged Eustachian valve). For this reason, the need for reoperation for a residual ASD is not a rare event [2].
Over the past decade, surgical correction of less severe congenital heart disease (CHD) such as ASD has been increasingly performed through minimally invasive less traumatic surgical approaches [3, 4]. In particular, the advantage of total or partial peripheral cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) includes the possibility of avoiding IVC snaring during CPB. This proved particularly important for the visualization of SV ASD with inferior extension towards the IVC orifice.