[Results of transcatheter closure of the secundum atrial septal defects in children].

Immediate and long-term results of transcatheter closure of defects of interatrial septum (DIAS) with occluder Amplatzer were analyzed. An attempt of transcatheter closure of DIAS was undertaken in 62 children aged from 2 through 17 years (mean age 10.93 +/- 4.57 years), among them there were 19 boys (30%) and 43 girls (70%). Successful implantation of the occluder was fulfilled in 60 patients, but in 2 patients there were failures. Complete occlusion of DIAS by the data of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) fulfilled immediately after implantation of the occluder was noted in 57 patients (92%), 3 patients had insignificant (1) and small (2) residual flow, in 2 patients--directly through occluder and in 1--along the lower border of the occluder. TTE with Doppler mapping made 24 hour after the procedure has demonstrating the absence of residual flow in 59 patients (98%), including 2 patients out of 3 with a residual shunt immediately after implantation of the occluder. In 1 child there was a negligible shunt left along the lower border of the occluder which disappeared within a month in control TTE. Complications during performing transcatheter closure with DIAS occluder Amplatzer appeared in 3 patients. In 2 patients there was arrhythmia, in 3 patients during implantation of the occluder with diameter 34 mm the right atrial auricle was damaged that required sternotomy and suturing the auricle wound. Long term results were followed up in 40 patients during 1-3 years. None of the patients had residual shunts or erosions of the atrium walls or aorta, or disturbed heart rate.