Of 220 pediatric patients recovering from surgical repair of congenital heart disease, 147 (67%) met our criteria for early extubation and were extubated either in the operating room or within 6 h after admission to the surgical ICU. The duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation correlated with the duration of car-diopulmonary bypass during surgical repair. In patients undergoing repair of ventricular septal defect, preoperative measures of pulmonary vascular status (PPA/PAO and RP/RS) also correlated with the duration of mechanical ventilation.