Atrial Septal Defects (ASD) are a group of common (1% of cardiac) congenital anomolies defects occuring in a number of different forms and more often in females.
patent foramen ovale - "hole in the heart" babies, allows a continuation of the atrial shunting of blood, in 25% of people a probe patent foramen ovale (allowing a probe to bepassed from one atria to the other) exists.
ostium secundum defect
endocardial cushion defect involving ostium primum
sinus venosus defect - contributes about 10% of all ASDs and typically occurs mainly in either a common or a less common form. (More? eMedicine - Atrial Septal Defect, Sinus Venosus)
Common ("usual type") - in upper atrial septum which is contiguous with the superior vena cava.
Less common - at junction of the right atrium and inferior vena cava.
common atrium -
The surgical repair requires a cardiopulmonary bypass and is recommended in most cases of ostium secundum ASD, even though there is a significant risk involved. Ostium primum defects tend to present earlier and are often associated with endocardial cushion defects and defective mitral or tricuspid valves. In such cases, valve replacement may be necessary and the extended operation has a considerable chance of mortality.
Increasingly closure by a transcatheter device closure has been applied. (More? Medline Plus - ASD Repair Video)
References:
Tikkanen J, Heinonen OP. Risk factors for atrial septal defect. Eur J Epidemiol. 1992 Jul;8(4):509-15.
Webb G, Gatzoulis MA. Atrial septal defects in the adult: recent progress and overview. Circulation. 2006 Oct 10;114(15):1645-53.
Search NCBI Bookshelf: Atrial Septal Defect
Search PubMed: Search term = Atrial Septal Defect (Jun06 9,737 Articles and 656 Reviews) atrial+septal+defect[TITL]
The University of Chicago - Pediatric cardiology | National Heart and Lung Institute (UK) | Mayo Clinic (USA) | eMedicine - Atrial Septal Defect, Sinus Venosus | Medline Plus - ASD Repair Video
OMIM Database Entry: Atrial Septal Defect (1999)
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