What is the atrial septal defect and how dangerous it is?

External risk factors the following should be noted:

1. Taking certain drugs at the early stages of pregnancy, when they begin to form the major organs of the fetus. The likelihood of abnormal development of the unborn child is increased if a woman takes alcoholic drinks in a period of gestation.
2. One of the risk factors of atrial septal defect is rubella if a pregnant woman underwent her first trimester.

What is the danger of ASD?

If left untreated atrial septal defect may experience life-threatening complications. This is due to stagnation of blood in the pulmonary circulation in connection with overload of the right heart. When a large hole develops pathological pulmonary hypertension, which is characterized by elevated blood pressure in the pulmonary. In some cases, develop severe hypertension and irreversible pulmonary circulation – syndrome Eisenmenger.

You can name several consequences of ASD in the absence of treatment:

• heart failure;
• atrial fibrillation;
• the risk of stroke;
• the high mortality rate.

Statistically, without treatment, up to 40 - 50 years living out approximately 50% of patients with moderate and large defect of the septum.

How diagnose?

On a normal medical examination therapist or cardiologist to identify the atrial septal defect is almost impossible, since the abnormal heart murmurs most often are absent. The reason for a more thorough examination are the patient's complaints and some indirect signs of heart disease detected by a doctor.

For the diagnosis of the defect is used several methods:

• Chest x-ray gives the opportunity to detect signs of right heart failure, which occurs when the defect of the interatrial septum. In this case, the radiograph shows that the right ventricle and the right atrium greatly increased in the lungs there is a stagnation of blood, pulmonary artery is dilated.
• Heart ultrasound helps determine the severity of the disease. This method makes it possible to establish the direction of blood flow, the amount passing through the abnormal opening, to evaluate the work of the heart, to detect anomalies his development.
• ECG helps to identify cardiac disorders specific to atrial septal defect, such as arrhythmia and thickening of the right ventricle.
• Magnetic resonance imaging is used if it's not possible to diagnose by ultrasound.

Secondary ASD often have to be differentiated from a functional systolic murmur and some diseases: triad, Fallo,stenosis of the pulmonary artery, ventricular septal defect.