# Surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot in a 78-year-old woman: a case report

## TL;DR

A 78-year-old woman with untreated Tetralogy of Fallot underwent successful surgical repair after developing infective endocarditis.

## Contribution

This case highlights late-life surgical treatment of Tetralogy of Fallot due to infective endocarditis.

## Key findings

- The patient had severe Tetralogy of Fallot symptoms and developed infective endocarditis.
- Surgical correction was successfully performed at age 78, which is uncommon for this condition.
- Infective endocarditis was the definitive reason for late surgical intervention.

## Abstract

Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart disease mostly diagnosed and treated in early childhood. However, there are some adult cases receiving treatment.

We describe a 78-year-old Japanese woman who presented with severely hypertrophic right ventricle, ventricular septum defect, overriding aorta, and severe infundibular stenosis in the right ventricular outflow tract. As hypoxemia was mild and daily exertion was sufficiently possible, home oxygen therapy was introduced. After 1 month, she was referred because of a positive blood culture. The blood culture test was positive four times, therefore, the antibacterial drug was administered according to active infective endocarditis. SpO2 repeatedly decreased during hospitalization, thus oxygen was needed. As there were infective endocarditis onset and progressive hypoxemia, we planned a surgical correction.

Tetralogy of Fallot was diagnosed and successfully treated with complete surgical correction, and the development of infective endocarditis was the definitive indication for surgery at this late age.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13256-024-04414-5.