Background: cardiac surgery performance by local team in Burkina Faso was started in 2019. The first procedure was surgical division of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). In this study, the authors report the outcomes of the first 23 surgical therapies of PDA that have been performed at the university hospital of Tengandogo (UHT). Materials and methods: it consisted of retrospective and descriptive study at the UHT from April 9th 2019 to August 9th 2021. All the cases of PDA treated by surgical method were included. Then the epidemiologic, clinical, echographicl and evolutive data were assessed. Results: overall, 23 cases of PDA were enrolled and the M-F ratio was 0.53. The mean age was 4.9 years old [1; 16 years old]. Dyspnea and recurrent respiratory infections were the most reported symptoms in 82.6% and 73.9% of the cases respectively. Physical examination found a continuous murmur at the upper left sternal border and tachycardia respectively in 95.6% and 86.9% of the cases respectively. The surgical approach was a left postero-lateral thoracotomy through the 4th intercostal space. Surgical division was performed in 20 cases (87%) versus surgical ligation in 3 cases (13%). Postoperatively, 1 case of infection of surgical site and 1 case of chylothorax were found. The mean hospital stay was 12 days [7; 26 days]. The death rate was nil. Conclusion: the surgical therapy by thoracotomy is effective and safe. To improve the management of this congenital heart defect, antenatal diagnosis, medical therapy and trans-catheter closure are to be promoted.

Keywords: patent ductus arteriosus – congenital heart disease – closed cardiac surgery – cardiac surgery – Burkina Faso