Need help!

plz help... i m 27 yr old and now the doctors have found out accidentally that i have asd of secondum type measuring about 2 cm. i easily get fatigued, have palpitations and chest pain of late . Otherwise i was normal except for the fatigue on exertion , decreased stamina and frequent respiratory infections. now my report reads right ventricular and right auricle enlargement with ejection fraction of 55 percent and pulmonary hypertension of 45 mm of Hg.My cardiologist advised for a device closure but i am afraid of its prognosis. i m very scared could it affect my pregnancy in future. i donot know what treatment would be successful in my case

Hi NEHAA,
Welcome to our site. Several of us have been repaired with different methods, some open heart surgery and others with a septal occluder( device). I myself had a septal Occluder called an Amplatzer. My hole was bigger than yours at 1.4- 1.6 but was an ostium secundum. I had symptoms from childhood but the testing found the hole small and " insignificant". I didn’t have significant problems until my 30s but still it was not blamed on the ASD. Your hole is small but you are very symptomatic. So size is irrelevant! I had 3 children with no problems long before I was repaired. My plug was just placed October 2013. Of course by then I was pretty sick. Getting plugged allowed me to do things I had trouble with before. There aren’t a lot of studies out there about septal plugs but I myself was scared I would have to have open heart surgery( OHS). What’s this about pulmonary hypertension? What does the OBGYN say in relation to pregnancy? Best wishes, Linda

hi linda,

Its measuring from 1.8cm to 2 cm with ragged inferior borders so docs want to close it with amplatzer but are not sure if it would be successful . if not i will have to go for OHS. Pulmonary hypertension is coz of shunting of blood from left to right site of my heart increasing pressure on the pulmonary vessels of lungs. OBGYN says it may be complicated in your case regarding pregnancy issues. Did u have any post operative complications after device closure.During your 3 pregnancies were you ever symptomatic like shortness of breath etc. thank you linda for your response.

Linda Arsenault Pitzo said:

Hi NEHAA,
Welcome to our site. Several of us have been repaired with different methods, some open heart surgery and others with a septal occluder( device). I myself had a septal Occluder called an Amplatzer. My hole was bigger than yours at 1.4- 1.6 but was an ostium secundum. I had symptoms from childhood but the testing found the hole small and " insignificant". I didn't have significant problems until my 30s but still it was not blamed on the ASD. Your hole is small but you are very symptomatic. So size is irrelevant! I had 3 children with no problems long before I was repaired. My plug was just placed October 2013. Of course by then I was pretty sick. Getting plugged allowed me to do things I had trouble with before. There aren't a lot of studies out there about septal plugs but I myself was scared I would have to have open heart surgery( OHS). What's this about pulmonary hypertension? What does the OBGYN say in relation to pregnancy? Best wishes, Linda

Is that 45MG at rest or exercise? In either case, if you were my daughter, I'd lock you up until after menopause. An ejection fraction of 55 is not good as you know and the risk of fluid retention during pregnancy is downright scary.

Understand my youngest daughter spent 5 days in an induced comma and had 45 units of blood following her last pregnancy with lower pulmonary hypertension than that. It was nip and tuck needless to say................ I'm not trying to scare you. But you need a lot more information and opinions. Size is not important. Symptoms are.....................

I would say, do not panic!

I'm 26, and was diagnosed with an ASD not that long ago either. In my case it's asymptomatic, but, even though I never asked that question, my cardiologist says that, while becoming pregnant now can be dangerous, once the ASD is closed and once I recover from the surgery, I should not have a problem. Talk to a few different doctors, I'm sure they'll say something similar.

@ rukram
have u got it closed? how have u been after surgery?

It hasn't been closed yet. My surgery is scheduled for November, 13th. I'll let you know how it goes and how I feel after it :)

NEHAA said:

@ rukram
have u got it closed? how have u been after surgery?