Twenty patients underwent transcatheter occlusion of persistent ductus arteriosus (PDA), 1.5-5.5 mm in diameter, with detachable steel coils. A coil having a diameter at least twice that of the narrowest ductal diameter was used. Procedural success was achieved in all, using a single coil in 14 and multiple coils in the remaining 6. At follow-up after 2-12 (6.7 +/- 2.8) months, continuous murmur persisted in only one patient, while 4 (20%) patients had residual shunt on Doppler colour-flow imaging. There was no instance of coil embolisation, thromboembolism, intravascular haemolysis, local vascular complication or sepsis. Transcatheter occlusion of PDA with detachable coils is a safe, technically easy and cost-effective method with the added advantage of feasibility in small children.