The fate of the unligated vertical vein after surgical correction of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection in early infancy

The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery • Volume 122, Number 3 615 T he vertical vein, when present, is usually ligated or divided during surgical correction of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC).1 However, some recent work has suggested that ligation of the vertical vein is not a mandatory component of successful surgical correction of this anomaly. In selected cases, nonligation of the vertical vein may be an advantage and the unligated vein could be expected to close off.2 We investigated the fate of the vertical vein in 4 consecutive patients in whom it was left unligated for various reasons.