How would you treat a patient with an atrial septal defect?

How would you treat a patient with an atrial septal defect?

Open-heart surgery. This procedure is the only way to repair primum, sinus venosus and coronary sinus atrial defects. This procedure can be done using small incisions (minimally invasive surgery) and with a robot for some types of atrial septal defects.

What is the pathway of blood flow through the heart of a child with an atrial septal defect?

In an atrial septal defect, there’s an opening in the wall (septum) between the atria. As a result, some oxygenated blood from the left atrium flows through the hole in the septum into the right atrium, where it mixes with oxygen-poor blood and increases the total amount of blood that flows toward the lungs.

What is the most common complication found in patients with an atrial septal defect?

A large atrial septal defect can cause extra blood to overfill the lungs and overwork the right side of the heart. If not treated, the right side of the heart eventually enlarges and weakens. The blood pressure in your lungs can also increase, leading to pulmonary hypertension.

What is the most common cause of atrial septal defect?

Atrial septal defect occurs in 5 to 10 percent of all babies with congenital heart disease. The most common form of ASD is an ostium secundum, an opening in the middle of the atrial septum. For unknown reasons, girls have atrial septal defects twice as often as boys.

Can you live a normal life with atrial septal defect?

Several patients tolerate large unrepaired defects for 80 years or even longer without serious disability. However, it is assumed that, as a rule, atrial septal defect reduces life expectancy, the average age at death not exceeding 50 years.

Is atrial septal defect hereditary?

Most cases of ASD are not inherited and occur by chance. Some cases appear to have autosomal dominant inheritance. Treatment may not be needed for small ASDs, which often close on their own. Larger ASDs are typically closed during childhood with open heart surgery or by cardiac catheterization.

How does ASD affect blood flow?

When blood passes through the ASD from the left atrium to the right atrium, a larger volume of blood than normal must be handled by the right side of the heart. This extra blood passes through the pulmonary artery into the lungs, causing higher amounts of blood flow than normal in the vessels in the lungs.

How long can a person live with atrial septal defect?

Can you live a normal life with a hole in your heart?

It is very possible to live with a hole in your heart, without ever realising that it’s there. A patent foramen ovale, also known as a PFO, is a hole between the left and right atria (upper chambers) of the heart that we all have when we are in the womb, but this should close shortly after we’re born.

Does atrial septal defect qualify for disability?

Under guidelines set forth by the Social Security Administration (SSA), Symptomatic Congenital Heart Disease may qualify a person to receive Social Security Disability benefits.

Does atrial septal defect require surgery?

A hole can vary in size and may close on its own or may require surgery. An atrial septal defect is one type of congenital heart defect. Congenital means present at birth. As a baby’s heart develops during pregnancy, there are normally several openings in the wall dividing the upper chambers of the heart (atria).

How is an atrial septal defect (ASD) diagnosed?

This is the most commonly used test to diagnose an atrial septal defect. Some atrial septal defects can be found during an echocardiogram done for another reason. During an echocardiogram, sound waves are used to produce a video image of the heart.

Will my child’s atrial septal defect close on its own?

Once an atrial septal defect is diagnosed, your child’s cardiologist will evaluate your child periodically to see whether it is closing on its own. Usually, an ASD will be repaired if it has not closed on its own by the time your child starts school — to prevent lung problems that will develop from long-time exposure to extra blood flow.

How long does it take to recover from atrial septal defect surgery?

In the past, atrial septal defect (ASD) closure required open-heart surgery through an incision in the chest using a heart-lung bypass machine. This procedure would require three to five days in the hospital for recovery. It is now possible to close ASDs without surgery.

What precautions should be taken after atrial septal defects (ASDs)?

Most patients with small, unrepaired atrial septal defects and repaired ASDs do not need any special precautions and may be able to participate in normal activities without increased risk.