Original Article


Utility of balloon assisted technique in trans catheter closure of very large (≥35 mm) atrial septal defects

Ajith Ananthakrishna Pillai, Vidhyakar Rangaswamy Balasubramanian, Raja Selvaraj, Maheshkumar Saktheeswaran, Santhosh Satheesh, Balachander Jayaraman

Abstract

Background: Very few published data is available on the outcomes of balloon assisted techniques (BATs) for trans catheter closure (TCC) of very large (Defined as ≥35 mm size) ostium secundum atrial septal defect (ASD).
Objective: To study the utility of BAT as against conventional techniques (CT) in TCC of very large ostium secundum ASD (≥35 mm) over the past 5-year period and to find out the association of different morphological features of the defects in relation to TCC outcomes.
Study design and methods: Descriptive single center retrospective study of patients with very large ostium secundum ASD (≥35 mm size) who were subjected to TCC.
Results: Thirty-three out of 36 patients with ≥35 mm ASD and complex morphological features underwent successful TCC. The study patients had high prevalence of absent aortic and posterior rims with posterior mal-alignment of the septum. BAT was successful in 28/31 (90.3%) patients while CT had a success rate of 16%. The mean trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE) ASD size with BAT success 37 (SD 1.3) mm and CT failure 36.2 (SD 1.1) mm was not different (P=0.06). On univariate analysis of different morphological features, posterior mal alignment of the septum was associated failure of CT (P=0.01). There was no urgent referral for surgery and patients did well on follow up.
Conclusions: Balloon assisted device closure of (≥35 mm) ASD had 90% success rate. BAT helps in controlled delivery and device alignment in very large ASD with posterior malalignment of the septum and is often helpful when CT fails.

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