Aims: To assess results of closure of atrial septal defects within the oval fossa by devices delivered by catheterisation in symptomatic infants and children under 2 years of age.
Methods and results: The Amplatzer septal occluder was used. Results, and complications of transcatheter device treatment in patients aged below 2 years were compared to previous results from our institution.
Patients: We attempted closure in 12 consecutive patients below the age of 2 years who presented with an atrial septal defect between May 1997 and 1999. Symptoms were failure to thrive in 6, frequent chest infections in 5, and the need for treatment of heart failure in the other. All were thought to have a defect suitable for interventional closure. The atrial defects were seen in isolation in 10 children, but 2 had associated pulmonary stenosis which had been treated by balloon dilation prior to placement of the Amplatzer occluder.
Results: The Amplatzer septal occluder was implanted at a mean age of 1.4 +/- 0.4, with a range from 0.8 to 1.8 years. Ratios of pulmonary-to-systemic flow had been 2.1 +/- 0.5, with a range from 1.6 and 3.2, and the defect was measured at 12 +/- 4 mms. Fluoroscopy time was 12.8 +/- 10.2 minutes, with a range from 5 to 43 minutes, and the time of the overall procedure was 162 +/- 70 minutes, with a range from 85 to 360 minutes. It proved necessary to remove the device in 2 patients (16%) because of a residual shunt and movement after release. One of these developed transient neurological complications. Both subsequently underwent surgical treatment.
Conclusion: Symptomatic patients less than 2 years of age can undergo successful closure of an atrial septal defect using the Amplatzer device, but the rates of success are less, and procedure time longer, than in older children or adults.