Spontaneous Functional Closure Of Symptomatic Atrial Septal Defects

Abstract

Three patients with left to right shunts at the atrial level and clinical findings of atrial septal defect were studied at 8 months to 2 years of age. The subsequent clinical course of these children indicated that the atrial defect had closed. The second heart sound became normal although systolic ejection murmurs remained. Hemodynamic studies confirmed the functional closure of the atrial septal defect although probe patency of the foramen ovale was still present in 2 patients. Although functional closure of atrial septal defects may not be a common occurrence, the possibility should be kept in mind and elective surgery should not be undertaken during the first few years of life.