Limitations
This study was subject to the typical limitations of a retrospective
case series. There were several limitations,
including
small sample size and differences in the patient populations. Most
patients underwent VSD repair in infancy and early childhood, and we
excluded patients with severe pulmonary arteria systolic pressure and
other concomitant diseases mentioned in the discussion section. As a
result, the sample size was small. In addition, while most preoperative
characteristics were well matched, there were significant differences in
sex and VSD types among the two groups. More females opted for the total
thoracoscopic procedure due to the need for favorable cosmesis. We
excluded the subarterial or supracristal VSDs in the thoracoscopy group,
which led to the vast majority proportion of this type being in the
mini-sternotomy group.