Echocardiographic characteristics of secundum-type atrial septal defects in adult patients: implications for percutaneous closure using Amplatzer septal occluders.

The aim of the study was to analyze echocardiographic characteristics of isolated secundum-type atrial septal defects (ASD II) in adult patients and their implications for percutanous closure using Amplatzer septal occluders. The study population consisted of 64 consecutive adult patients with isolated ASD II (mean age 43.6 +/- 15.9 years). Patients were evaluated using both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography. Defects in 29 of 64 patients (45.3%) fulfilled the echocardiographic criteria for percutaneous closure. The mean defect diameter in the study was 22.2 +/- 9.5 mm. In all, 13 morphologic variations of ASD II were detected. A statistically significant correlation between defect size and the number of deficient defect rims was found. Less than 50% of ASD II in adult patients fulfilled the echocardiographic criteria for percutaneous closure using Amplatzer septal occluders. Because others have demonstrated growth of ASD II over time, we presume that in some patients, defect growth is associated with attenuation or even disappearance of defect rims causing changing defect morphology with increasing defect size.