Types of atrial septal defect and treatment

  Atrial septal defect is one of the most common types of congenital heart disease, second only to ventricular septal defect, and is formed by a residual unclosed defect in the atrial septum during embryonic development. The majority of atrial septal defects are uniportal, a few are porous, and a very few are sieve-shaped. The ratio of male to female is 1.7:1. Interventional treatment: (1) usually ≥3 years old, weight ≥10 kg, ASD ≥4 mm and ≤36 mm with left-to-right shunt ASD; (2) distance from the edge of the defect to the coronary sinus, upper and lower vena cava and pulmonary veins ≥5 mm; to the atrioventricular valve ≥7 mm. There is a metallic blocking umbrella, which can be found on chest X-ray, fluoroscopy, CT and other examinations.  Surgery: Surgical treatment is suitable for any type of atrial septal defect (unless the patient progresses to Eisenmenger’s syndrome inoperable) and can achieve almost 100% success rate in our hospital. Moreover, surgery in childhood can be done with a small incision in the right axillary or median lower sternal segment, with an incision length of only about 3 cm, which is concealed, safe and beautiful.