title: Right to left shunt through interatrial septal defects in patients with congenital heart disease: results of interventional closure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effects of closure of interatrial communications associated with a right to left shunt in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) who had a biventricular repair.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  15 patients with CHD with right to left shunt through an interatrial communication: three had repaired tetralogy of Fallot, five had repaired pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum, four had Ebstein's disease, and three had other CHDs. Two patients had had a stroke before closure of the interatrial communication.
  
  
  METHODS
  Percutaneous atrial septal defect (n = 6) or persistent foramen ovale (n = 9) closure. All patients underwent an exercise test before and after interatrial communication closure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five patients were cyanotic at rest. During exercise, mean (SD) oxygen saturation diminished from 93.9 (3.8)% to 84.3 (4.8)% (p < 0.05). Interatrial communication closure led to an immediate increase of oxygen saturation from 93.9 (3.8)% to 98.6 (1.6)% (p < 0.05). At a median follow up of three years (range 0.5-5) all but one patient with a residual atrial septal defect had normal oxygen saturation at rest and during exercise. Maximum workload increased from 7.2 (1.9) to 9.0 (2.2) metabolic equivalents (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Percutaneous closure of interatrial communications associated with a right to left shunt allows restoration of normal oxygen saturation at rest, avoidance of desaturation during exercise, and improvement of exercise performance in patients with CHD.
authors.affiliation: Necker Enfants Malades, AP HP, Paris, France. gabriella.agnoletti@nck.ap-hop-paris.fr
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Agnoletti
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Boudjemline
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bonnet
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sidi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D005080:Exercise Test; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome