Neeraj Awasthy, Pratik Raval, Mohan Bhargava
The incidence of Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) is approximately 3 per 10,000 live births. Ostium secundum ASD is most common type of ASD accounting for 75% of all ASD cases. Patients with irreversible Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) are considered ineligible for shunt closure. It is important to ascertain the cause of PAH particularly to rule out pulmonary cause as in present case. A 56-yearold female patient, known case of Ostium secundum ASD presented with NYHA class IV dyspnea and chest infection. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed 30 mm ASD with bidirectional shunt, dilated Right Atrium (RA), Right Ventricle (RV), severe Tricuspid Regurgitation (TR) (max PG 85 mmHg) and RV dysfunction. She was intubated and put on mechanical ventilator. CT chest showed right lower lobe bronchiectasis with infective changes. However repeated attempts to wean patient off Bipap support were unsuccessful. Subsequently cardiac catheterization and Balloon Occlusion of ASD revealed Qp/Qs ratio of 8:1 with step up in oxygen saturation of 19%. Mean pulmonary artery pressure was 35 mmHg. Later she underwent successful device closure for ASD with AMPLATZER septal occlude (36 mm) (AGA Medical Corp., Minneapolis, MN, USA). Her physical activity and symptoms were much improved. Follow up transthoracic echocardiography after 5 months revealed normal RV contractility and no PAH. While initially chest infection prevented ASD device closure, underlying bronchiectasis which got worsened by ASD shunt, prevented her from weaning off ventilator. ASD device closure thereby helped to reduce pulmonary blood flow and improvement in lung function enabling her to wean off ventilator support.
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