A 10-year experience with early operation for postinfarction ventricular septal defect is reviewed. Twenty-two patients underwent surgical repair; operative mortality was 36% (< 30 days). The actuarial survival was 64% at 1 month, 59% at 1 year, and 47% at 5 years. Risk factors predictive of operative mortality were diabetes (p = 0.001), elevated preoperative right atrial pressure (p = 0.02), the absence of a preoperative intraaortic balloon pump (p = 0.006), and a short time interval between infarct and operation (p = 0.018). Long-term survival was adversely related to diabetes (p = 0.030), elevated preoperative right atrial pressure (p = 0.005), and, surprisingly, survival was better in patients with a greater extent of coronary artery disease (p = 0.023). There were 14 operative survivors (64%) and 11 long-term survivors (3 months to 10 years, mean 6.0 +/- 3.5 years). Six of eleven survivors were in functional New York Heart Association class I, one was in class II, and four were in class III.