Between March 1990 and November 1993 175 patients underwent successful closure of patent ductus arteriosus using the Rashkind double umbrella device. Of those patients seen on follow up, 13 (9 female, 4 male) had a residual leak and were admitted for implantation of a second device alongside the first device. The interval between the procedures ranged from 6 to 22 months. The mean age at the first procedure was 73.9 months (range 24-204 months) and the mean weight was 18.9kg (range 8.4-64). The mean age at the second procedure was 86.9 months (30-213) and the mean weight was 21.4 kg (8.6-64). The first device was 17 mm in 11 patients and 12 mm in two. The second device was 17 mm in four patients and 12 mm in nine. Four patients required two 17 mm devices in total. There was no difference in the two procedures regarding the fluoroscopy time, procedure time, complications and length of hospital stay. The second procedure was uneventful; however, in one patient the residual ductus had to be dilated before successfully deploying a 12 mm device. Ten patients had immediate total occlusion and three had a trivial leak on echocardiography 24 h later. One of the three patients was found to have total occlusion on Doppler echocardiography 1 year later. The other patients are yet to be seen for follow-up. Hence a total occlusion rate was in 11/13 patients (85%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)