Establishing an Indigenous Cardiac Anaesthesia Service in Enugu: Report of two cases of Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) closure

Background: Open heart surgery program require enormous resources and commitment to establish. In low and middle income countries like Nigeria it is quite a difficult task. The surgery requires highly sophisticated equipment and specially trained professional teams. The training is done abroad and requires long term planning. Case report: We report two cases of two patients, aged 20 and 30-years diagnosed with Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) scheduled for surgical closure under general anaesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass carried out by a completely indigenous team. The anaesthetic management and the strategy necessary for developing a sustainable open heart program are discussed.