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.