Cardiologists at UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital announced Feb. 21 that they are one of the first approved sites nationwide — and the only center in the Los Angeles region — to provide patients with a dramatically less-invasive alternative to open-heart surgery for patients with atrial septal defects (ASD), a common and potentially fatal congenital heart abnormality.

The American Heart Association estimates that annually 40,000 people are born with heart defects. Of that number, an estimated 10 percent have an ASD ¾ an opening in the septum, or wall, dividing the heart’s upper chambers.

“The Amplatzer Septal Occluder is an extremely safe and effective treatment for this common heart defect in both pediatric and adult patients,” said Dr. John Moore, professor of pediatrics, UCLA School of Medicine and director of pediatric cardiac catheterization, Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA. “And, because it’s a minimally invasive procedure, patients will find it a welcome alternative to open-heart surgery.”

Most commonly diagnosed in infants and children, ASD causes increased blood flow into the heart’s right side, forcing it to work harder than normal. In certain cases, the defect is relatively small and closes naturally. When the defect is larger or fails to close, patients can become easily fatigued, have difficulty breathing, fail to grow normally and be susceptible to colds, pneumonia and other infectious diseases. Left untreated, ASD can lead to heart arrhythmias, heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, even death.

Traditionally, the only treatment for ASD has been open-heart surgery, requiring incisions through the breastbone and the heart muscle, followed by sewing a patch over larger defects or stitching the septum together in smaller defects. Open-heart procedures average three hours in duration, sometimes longer. The patient typically spends three to five days hospitalized, and faces considerable post-operative recovery.

The Amplatzer Septal Occluder is a self-expanding device designed to occlude — or close — ASD. Featuring two Nitinol-wire mesh discs, connected by a “waist” that corresponds to the size of the defect, doctors implant the device via a catheter inserted in the patient’s groin. Typical implantation is only a one- to two-hour procedure. Most patients leave the hospital within 24 hours and resume normal activity soon thereafter.

Recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of ASD, the occluder has been implanted in more than 10,000 patients worldwide since 1996. AGA Medical, which developed the Amplatzer Septal Occluder device, projects that each year between 2,500 and 5,000 U.S. patients will be candidates for implantation.

Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA offers a full spectrum of primary and specialized medical care for infants, children and adolescents. Its mission is to provide treatment for children in a compassionate atmosphere, as well as to conduct research that improves the understanding and treatment of pediatric cases.

For more information, please visit our Web site at www.pediatrics.medsch.ucla.edu