Atrial septal defect closure is now routinely performed using a percutaneous approach under echocardiographic guidance. Centrally located, secundum defects are ideal for device closure but there is considerable morphological variation in size and location of the defects. A small proportion of atrial septal defects may have multiple fenestrations and these are often considered unsuitable for dev...

We carried out transcatheter procedures to close postinfarction ventricular septal defects (PIVSDs) in 19 patients: two had recanalization after surgical closure, and 17 had a primary PIVSD. In three of the latter patients, who had acute PIVSDs, the procedure was carried out in the first 3 weeks after infarction; in the 13 patients with subacute PIVSD, it was carried out 3.5-12 weeks after infa...

A 29-year-old woman presented with a symptomatic large atrial septal defect, a small left ventricle with a modest left atrium, mild to moderate nonrheumatic mitral valve incompetence, an apex-forming very large right ventricle and suprasystemic pulmonary artery pressure. Following one year of preprocedural drug treatment to lower pulmonary hypertension, she underwent percutaneous closure of the...

A 2-year-old boy was admitted for a 16-day history of intermittent fever (up to 40.5°C) with no other symptom. He had been followed since birth for a large midmuscular ventricular septal defect with a left-to-right shunt and signs of congestive heart failure. At 2 months of age, the patient had a pulmonary artery banding, and at 16 months of age he underwent hybrid periventricular closure of a ...

T he first atrial septal defects (ASDs) were closed percutaneously in 1974 and reports about their closure published in 1976. In the 1980s the Rashkind occluder was introduced and revived the interest in the topic, focusing for the first time on the patent foramen ovale (PFO). This device is still available in two modified versions. Its initial name, Rashkind Clamshell occluder, has been change...