title: Transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects without fluoroscopy: feasibility of a new method.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In an effort to reduce x-ray exposure, we developed a technique for transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects under echocardiographic guidance without fluoroscopy. To assess the efficiency of this procedure for routine use, we compared our initial results with those for the conventional procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-two randomly selected patients (median age 18 years; range 2 to 66 years) with atrial septal defects (n=13) or patent foramen ovale (n=9) underwent cardiac catheterization for possible interventional defect closure with echocardiography as the only imaging tool. Median stretched diameter was 9 mm (range 6 to 26 mm); median left-to-right shunt over the atrial septal defects was Qp/Qs=1.8 (range 1.5 to 2.6). An Amplatzer septal occluder was successfully implanted in 19 defects without fluoroscopy and in 3 with the help of radiography. After 1 month, complete defect closure was documented in all patients. Compared with the conventional procedure of a control group of 131 patients, procedure times were not significantly different (88 versus 100 minutes; P=0.09). However, the study group received significantly higher doses of propofol for sedation (9.9 versus 5.6 mg/kg body weight; P=0.002) owing to extended transesophageal echocardiography.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the majority of patients in whom transcatheter closure of interatrial communications with the Amplatzer septal occluder is possible, the procedure can be safely performed under echocardiographic guidance without fluoroscopy.
authors.affiliation: bteilung für angeborene Herzfehler, Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Germany. ewert@dhzb.de
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ewert
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Daehnert
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Wees
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gittermann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abdul-Khaliq
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Lange
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004617:Embolism / Q000209:etiology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional