Abstract
<h3>To the Editor:—</h3> In their article "Surgical Repair of Intraventricular Septal Defects" inThe Journalof March 20, 1954, page 986, Drs. E. B. Kay and H. A. Zimmerman describe an operation on a 21-year-old woman with an uncomplicated ventricular septal defect. The patient had "some dyspnea" but "no appreciable enlargement of the heart." This surgical procedure was predicated on the basis that "a high proportion of patients with intraventricular septal defects must lead lives of restricted activity and that others die prematurely." There are no available statistical studies that confirm this statement. In fact, as a result of observing several hundred patients with congenital heart disease over many years, it is our clinical impression that the vast majority of patients with uncomplicated ventricular septal defects live normal lives and need no treatment of any kind. This is substantiated by Roger's original description. Further, we have the impression that, if
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