Introduction
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a persistent communication between the
pulmonary artery and the descending thoracic aorta. In term infants, it
closes physiologically within 72 hours after birth. Especially this
closure is delayed in preterm infants. PDA is one of the most common
congenital anomalies of these neonates (1-3). Persistence of this fetal
connection leads to left ventricular volume overload, pulmonary
hypertension, increased mechanical ventilatory support, hypotension
requiring inotropic support, oliguria/renal failure, or feeding
intolerance/failure to gain weight. Surgical closure is considered when
medical theraphy fails. In preterm infants surgical closure technique is
especially important as you deal with congested lungs. Minimally
invasive techniques are more and more used in this manner (4,5). Among
different minimally invasive strategies that have emerged in the last
decades left anterior minithoracotomy has been recognized as a safe,
efficient and less expensive technique (6-9). In this study, we tried to
evaluate the effects of the less invasive left anterior mini thoracotomy
technique and share our results.