Essentially Septal defects of the heart are one of two types:
- Atrial Septal Defects (ASD)
- Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD)
Atrial Septal Defects (ASD)
An ASD is a “hole” in the wall that separates the top two chambers of the heart.
This defect allows oxygen-rich blood to leak into the oxygen-poor blood chambers in the heart. ASD is a defect in the septum between the heart’s two upper chambers (atria). The septum is a wall that separates the heart’s left and right sides.
For Children
What causes it?
Every child is born with an opening between the upper heart chambers. It’s a normal fetal opening that allows blood to detour away from the lungs before birth. After birth, the opening is no longer needed and usually closes or becomes very small within several weeks or months.
Sometimes the opening is larger than normal and doesn’t close after birth. In most children the cause isn’t known. Some children can have other heart defects along with ASD.
How does it affect the heart?
Normally, the left side of the heart only pumps blood to the body, and the right side of the heart only pumps blood to the lungs. In a child with ASD, blood can travel across the hole from the left upper heart chamber (left atrium) to the right upper chamber (right atrium) and out into the lung arteries.
If the ASD is large, the extra blood being pumped into the lung arteries makes the heart and lungs work harder and the lung arteries can become gradually damaged.
If the hole is small, it may not cause symptoms or problems. Many healthy adults still have a small leftover opening in the wall between the atria, sometimes called a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO).
How does the ASD affect my child?
Children with an ASD often have no symptoms. If the opening is small, it won’t cause symptoms because the heart and lungs don’t have to work harder. If the opening is large, the only abnormal finding may be a murmur (noise heard with a stethoscope) and other abnormal heart sounds. In children with a large ASD, the main risk is to the blood vessels in the lungs because more blood than normal is being pumped there. Over time, usually many years, this may cause permanent damage to the lung blood vessels.
Can the ASD be repaired?
If the opening is small, it doesn’t make the heart and lungs work harder. Surgery and other treatments may not be needed. Small ASDs that are discovered in infants often close or narrow on their own. There isn’t any medicine that will make the ASD get smaller or close any faster than it might do naturally.
If the ASD is large, it can be closed with open-heart surgery, or by cardiac catheterization using a device inserted into the opening to plug it. Sometimes, if the ASD is an unusual position within the heart, or if there are other heart defects such as abnormal connections of the veins bringing blood from the lungs back to the heart (pulmonary veins), the ASD can’t be closed with the catheter technique. Then surgery is needed.
Closing a large ASD by open-heart surgery usually is done in early childhood, even in patients with few symptoms, to prevent complications later. Many defects can be sewn closed without using a patch.
What activities can my child do?
Your child may not need any special precautions and may be able to participate in normal activities without increased risk. After surgery or catheter closure, your child’s pediatric cardiologist may advise some activity changes for a short time. But after successful healing from surgery or catheter closure, no restrictions are usually needed. Sometimes medicines to prevent blood clots and infection are used for a few months after ASD closure.
What will my child need in the future?
Depending on the type of ASD, your child’s pediatric cardiologist may examine your child periodically to look for uncommon problems. For a short time after surgery to close an ASD, a pediatric cardiologist must regularly examine the child. The long-term outlook is excellent, and usually no medicines and no additional surgery or catheterization are needed.
What about preventing endocarditis?
Most children with an ASD are not at increased risk for developing endocarditis. Your child’s cardiologist may recommend that your child receive antibiotics before certain dental procedures for a period of time after ASD repair.
For Adults
What causes it?
The cause is usually unknown. Genetic factors can sometimes play a role.
How does it affect the heart?
If the hole is small, it may have minimal effect on heart function. When a large defect exists between the atria, a large amount of oxygen-rich (red) blood leaks from the heart’s left side back to the right side. Then this blood is pumped back to the lungs, despite already having been refreshed with oxygen. Unfortunately this creates more work for the right side of the heart.
This extra amount of blood flow in the lung arteries can also cause gradual damage.
How does the ASD affect me?
Some patients with ASD have no symptoms. If the opening is small, it won’t cause symptoms because the additional work done by the heart and lungs is minimal. If the opening is large, it may cause mild shortness of breath, especially with exercise. The increased blood in the lung may increase a patient’s susceptibility to pneumonia and bronchitis. On physical examination, the only abnormal finding may be a murmur (noise heard with a stethoscope) and other abnormal heart sounds. However, with progressive damage to the lung vessels, the pressures in the lung may rise, and the patient can become more severely limited, eventually developing Eisenmenger’s syndrome, described below.
If I had surgery to close an ASD in childhood, what can I expect?
A large ASD is usually closed in early childhood, even in patients with few symptoms, to prevent complications later. Some defects were closed with a patch of pericardium (the normal lining outside the heart) or synthetic material such as Dacron. However, many defects that required surgery may have been sewn closed without using a patch. The prognosis after ASD closure during childhood is excellent and late complications are uncommon.
What if the defect is still present? Should it be repaired in adulthood?
If the opening is small, surgery or other treatments may not be needed.
Most large atrial septal defects now can be closed either with open-heart surgery or during a cardiac catheterization using a device inserted into the opening to plug it (referred to as interventional or therapeutic catheterization - PDF). However, if the ASD is in an unusual position within the heart, or if there are other heart defects such as abnormal connections of the veins bringing blood from the lungs back to the heart (pulmonary veins), the ASD cannot be closed with the catheter technique. Then surgery is needed. Even when the defect is discovered in adulthood, patients benefit from closure of large defects.
Problems You May Have
People with small unrepaired or repaired atrial septal defects rarely have any late problems. Those who have palpitations or who faint need to be evaluated by their cardiologist and may need medical therapy. Also, if the ASD is diagnosed late in life, the heart’s ability to pump may have been affected, leading to heart failure. This condition can require diuretics, drugs to help the heart pump better and drugs to control blood pressure. If pulmonary hypertension develops (which is uncommon), some people may need extra medications.
Patients who have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a stroke and are found to have a PFO may be treated with aspirin or another blood thinner. If another stroke recurs on medicines, patients may be referred to have a PFO or small ASD closed.
There are now special studies in progress to determine whether medications or closure of the PFO is better at preventing stroke. It is important to emphasize that the vast majority of people with small PFOs and ASD’s don’t have strokes and don’t need to have their defects closed.
Ongoing Care: What will I need in the future?
Patients with a history of ASD should be seen periodically by a cardiologist to look for uncommon problems. For a short time after surgery to close an ASD, a cardiologist must regularly examine you. The long-term outlook is excellent, and usually no medicines and no additional surgery or catheterization are needed.
Medical Follow-up
Sometimes medicines to prevent blood clots and infection are used for a few months after ASD closure. Only rarely will patients need to take medicine after six months. Your cardiologist can monitor you with noninvasive tests if needed. These include electrocardiograms, Holter monitors, exercise stress tests and echocardiograms. They will help show if more procedures, such as a cardiac catheterization, are needed.
Activity Restrictions
Most patients with small, unrepaired atrial septal defects and repaired ASDs do not need any special precautions and may be able to participate in normal activities without increased risk. After recent surgery or catheter closure, your cardiologist may advise some limits on your physical activity for a short time, even when there is no pulmonary hypertension. After successful healing from surgery or catheter closure, no restrictions are usually needed. The exception is that patients who have developed high pressures in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension; see Eisenmenger’s syndrome) should refrain from high-level sports.
Endocarditis Prevention
This isn’t needed beyond six months after repair either by surgery or device.
Pregnancy
Once the ASD is closed and there’s no leftover opening, the risk with pregnancy is very low. The risk from a pregnancy goes up if there’s an unrepaired ASD but pregnancy is usually safe unless there is pulmonary hypertension. A large unrepaired ASD may sometimes lead to heart failure during pregnancy but this is usually well controlled with medication if caught early. There is a slight risk of stroke during pregnancy, so precautions against blood clots may be recommended.
Will You Need More Surgery?
Once an ASD has been closed, it’s unlikely that more surgery will be needed. Rarely, a patient may have a residual hole. Whether it will need to be closed depends on its size.
Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD)
VSD is a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers of the heart.
In normal development, the wall between the chambers closes before the fetus is born, so that by birth, oxygen-rich blood is kept from mixing with the oxygen-poor blood. When the hole does not close, it may cause higher pressure in the heart or reduced oxygen to the body.
What causes it?
In most children, the cause isn’t known. It’s a very common type of heart defect. Some children can have other heart defects along with VSD.
How does it affect the heart?
Normally, the left side of the heart only pumps blood to the body, and the heart’s right side only pumps blood to the lungs. In a child with VSD, blood can travel across the hole from the left pumping chamber (left ventricle) to the right pumping chamber (right ventricle) and out into the lung arteries. If the VSD is large, the extra blood being pumped into the lung arteries makes the heart and lungs work harder and the lungs can become congested.
How does the VSD affect my child?
If the opening is small, it won’t cause symptoms because the heart and lungs don’t have to work harder. The only abnormal finding is a loud murmur (noise heard with a stethoscope).
If the opening is large, the child may breathe faster and harder than normal. Infants may have trouble feeding and growing at a normal rate. Symptoms may not occur until several weeks after birth. High pressure may occur in the blood vessels in the lungs because more blood than normal is being pumped there. Over time this may cause permanent damage to the lung blood vessels.
What can be done about the VSD?
If the opening is small, it won’t make the heart and lungs work harder. Surgery and other treatments may not be needed. Small VSDs often close on their own. There isn’t any medicine or other treatment that will make the VSD get smaller or close any faster than it might do naturally.
Closure by patch
If the opening is large, open-heart surgery may be needed to close it and prevent serious problems. Babies with VSD may develop severe symptoms and early repair, within the first few months, is often necessary. The repair may be delayed in other babies. Medicines may be used temporarily to help with symptoms, but they don’t cure the VSD or prevent permanent damage to the lung arteries.
Closing a large VSD by open-heart surgery usually is done in infancy or childhood even in patients with few symptoms, to prevent complications later. Usually a patch of fabric or pericardium (the normal lining around the outside of the heart) is sewn over the VSD to close it completely. Later this patch is covered by the normal heart lining tissue and becomes a permanent part of the heart. Some defects can be sewn closed without a patch. It may be possible to close some VSDs in the cath lab.
If an infant is very ill, or has more than one VSD or a VSD in an unusual location, a temporary operation to relieve symptoms and high pressure in the lungs may be needed. This procedure (pulmonary artery banding) narrows the pulmonary artery to reduce the blood flow to the lungs. When the child is older, an operation is done to remove the band and fix the VSD with open-heart surgery.
What activities can my child do?
If the VSD is small, or if the VSD has been closed with surgery, your child may not need any special precautions regarding physical activity and can participate in normal activities without increased risk.
What will my child need in the future?
Depending on the location of the VSD, your child’s pediatric cardiologist will examine your child periodically to look for uncommon problems, such as a leak in the aortic valve. Rarely, older children with small VSDs may require surgery if they develop a leak in this heart valve. After surgery to close a VSD, a pediatric cardiologist will examine your child regularly. The cardiologist will make sure that the heart is working normally. The long-term outlook is good and usually no medicines or additional surgery are needed.
What about preventing endocarditis?
Ask about your child’s risk of endocarditis. Your child’s cardiologist may recommend that your child receive antibiotics before certain dental procedures for a period of time after VSD repair. See the section on Endocarditis for more information.