Spontaneous Closure Of Atrial Septal Defect With Interatrial Aneurysm Formation; Documentation By Noninvasive Studies, Including Digital Subtraction Angiography

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to arrive at a clearer recognition of the true prevalence of ventricular septal defect and the various responses to it of the human body. There are a variety of figures given in the literature of the last 2 to 12 years on the incidence of spontaneous closure of the ventricular septal defect: (1) Keith, Rowe, and Vlad (1958), 10% closing; (2) Hoffman and Rudolph (1965), 24% closing; (3) Ash (1964), 15% closing; (4) Li et al. (1969), 22% closing. The present report summarized 2 groups: (1) The 630 cases followed from infancy for an average of 7.5 years with an overall closure rate of 17%. The small defects identified clinically had the highest closure rate (26%). (2) Among the 295 cases followed through the teens into the twenties 4% closed spontaneously. Perhaps equally important is to recognize early in life which cases are likely to close of their own accord, particularly in the first year or two of life.