Atrial septal defect (patient information)
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
What is an atrial septal defect?
Atrial septal defect or ASD is type of congenital heart defect in which the wall separating the upper chambers of the heart does not fuse completely. During fetal development, the opening between the two atria is needed to allow blood to bypass the lungs. Eventually, as the fetus becomes more developed, the lungs can support circulation and the opening fuses shut. ASD can result in shunting of blood disproportionately between the right and left sides of the heart. Symptoms include shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, frequenty resiparatory infections in children, and heart palpitations in adults. Associated conditions include Down syndrome, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, pulmonary overcirculation, pulmonary hypertension and stroke. Tests to determine ASD include cardiac catheterization, chest x ray, coronary angiography, trans-cranial doppler ultrasound, electrocardiogram, echocardiography and MRI. Treatment may not be needed if the defect is small. Larger defects require surgical closure. Prognosis depends on the severity of ASD with more severe cases causing disability later in life.
How do I know if I have an atrial septal defect and what are the symptoms of an atrial septal defect?
Symptoms may not manifest at birth and can occur later in life. Symptoms may include:
Other health problems may also cause these symptoms. Only a doctor can tell for sure. A person with any of these symptoms should tell the doctor so that the problems can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.
Who is at risk for an atrial septal defect?
Like other congenital heart diseases, the cause of an atrial septal defect is not clear.
How to know you have an atrial septal defect?
- Auscultation: Using a stethoscope, a doctor can listen to the beating of the heart. A doctor may hear abnormal heart sounds called a murmur. If the defect is large enough, the increase in blood flow across the right to the left sides of the heart may create a secondary murmur between beats.
- Echocardiography: This kind of painless test can help the doctor closely examine an atrial septal defect. It uses sound waves to produce an image of the ventricles, atrium and great vessles. Echocardiogram can determine if blood is flowing properly from the right to the left systems. Further more, the doctor can measure the speed of blood flow through patient's heart and pulmonary valve area by echocardiogram.
- Chest x-ray: An x-ray image of chest allows the doctor to check the size and shape of your heart to determine whether the atria have fused close. And it also helps the doctor check the condition of your lungs. Patients with an atrial septal defect may show enlarged right atrial border on an x -ray.
- Chest CT or MRI: A chest CT or MRI can demonstrate the details of the heart extremely well, such as the positions of valval, vascular, atrial and ventricular structures and their relationships to one another.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG): Electrocardiogram detect electric activities of the heart for cardiovascular diseases. They can supply information about heart rhythm and indirectly, blood flow. Patients with an atrial septal defect may show marked changes in the electrical conductivity of the heart.
When to seek urgent medical care?
Call your health care provider if your baby has symptoms of pulmonary atresia. If one emerges the following symptoms, seeking urgent medical care as soon as possible: