Treatment for atrial septal defects
Because of the problems they can cause when you’re an adult, if
you have a large atrial septal defect you would needto have
treatment. You should have the treatment as young as possible
so that your atrial septal defect has less chance to do any damage
to your health.
Small atrial septal defects
Quite often if you have a small atrial septal defect you don’t have
problems so you don’t have to have treatment at all, or may
just need to take blood thinning drugs. Researchers are still
looking at whether there is a link between small atrial septal
defects and the risk of having a stroke, so advice could change in
the future.
Surgical closure
You may be able to have your atrial septal defect closed through
open heart surgery. Small holes can be closed by a process called
suturing, which basically means sewing it up with thread made of
prolene or polypropylene. Bigger holes are covered with patches
made of pieces of pericardium – that’s the membrane that covers the
heart – or of silk or a synthetic material such as Dacron or
Teflon.
Trans-catheter closure
If you don’t have open heart surgery, you might have a procedure
called trans-catheter closure. In this operation, a
cardiologist repairs your heart through a very small tube
called a catheter. The catheter is quite small and is put into your
body through a vein in your groin (that’s the inside of the top of
your thigh) or through your forearm, and it goes into your heart by
following the vena cava.
Monitoring
Because people with atrial septal defects sometimes develop
irregular heartbeats, they may have to be monitored by their
specialist or GP.