IN A PREVIOUS study' cardiac output, intracardiac and intravascular pressures, levels of gas in blood, and acid-base profiles were observed for several days following repair of atrial septal defect and similar lesions. This is a report of similar observations following closure of ventricular septal defect. As in the previous study, the greatest deviations from normal in cardiac function were ob...

BACKGROUND Controversy exists as to whether secundum atrial septal defects (ASDs) in asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I or II adult patients should be closed. METHODS AND RESULTS Thirty-seven patients (24 females; mean age 49.4 years, range 19 to 76) with a mean pulmonary to systemic flow ratio (Qp:Qs) of 2.1 (1.2 to 3.4) had a maximal oxygen uptake (...

We report a case in which residual shunting after a buttoned device occlusion of atrial septal defect (ASD) was eliminated by transcatheter retrieval of a portion of the device, followed by implantation of a second device. This method may be helpful for those patients with residual ASDs who decline surgical device retrieval and defect closure.

In selected patients, transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects with the AMPLATZER Septal Occluder has yielded excellent results. However, there is a slight risk of device embolization after deployment. We report the case of a 26-year-old woman in whom an embolized AMPLATZER device was retrieved percutaneously from the right pulmonary artery. We also discuss important technical principles ...

Hybrid approach becomes a promising conception of an alternative treatment for muscular ventricular septal defects (VSD) closure in infants. In this paper we report epicardial echocardiography imaging that enabled successful hybrid procedure performed in premature infant referred for surgical correction of a large perimembraneous VSD with simultaneous perventricular approach for concomitant mus...

Percutaneous closure of postoperative malaligned residual atrial septal defect was successfully performed from the transjugular approach under transesophageal echocardiography guidance in a 38-year-old symptomatic woman with patent femoral venous access using the usual hardware. This demonstrates the feasibility of transjugular approach as an alternative to femoral or transhepatic approaches in...

T ranscatheter closure of atrial septal defects has been a dream of pediatric cardiologists for the past 25 years. The study by Rome and coworkers in this issue of Circulation,' the latest advance in a 20-year sequence, suggests that the dream is now almost a reality. To understand the true significance of the present study, a brief review of past work in this area is important. In 1976, King a...

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a rare but serious complication of acute myocardial infarction requiring early surgical intervention. A patient with acquired VSD that spontaneously closed over three months is presented. The literature on spontaneous closure of acquired VSDs is also reviewed.