Late Cardiac Perforation after Atrial Septal Defect Closure with the Amplatzer Septal Occluder

(Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, St. Mary’s Hospital, Kurume, Japan)

Naofumi Enomoto Hiroshi Yasunaga Hideki Sakashita
Muneaki Matsubara Takahiro Shojima and Kageshige Todo
Percutaneous transcatheter closure of ostium secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) has become an alternative to conventional open surgical repair. Cardiac perforation is a rare complication after transcatheter closure of ASD by an Amplatzer Septal Occluder (ASO). We present a patient with hemodynamic collapse secondary to cardiac perforation occurring 5 months after placement of the ASO and discuss the complications of this device. A 14-year-old girl underwent transcatheter closure of ASD by the ASO in our institution. Transesophageal echocardiography showed ASD sized 17.4×15.0mm, with no aortic rim. The placement of the ASO was performed without complications, but 5 months after the procedure she started to complain of chest pain and subsequent syncope. She was brought to a local emergency department. Transthoracic echocardiography showed an important cardiac effusion with signs of cardiac tamponade. Emergency pericardial drainage was performed under echocardiographic control from the subxiphoidal region. Once she was hemodynamically stabilized, the patient was transferred to our institution immediately for the necessary emergency surgical procedure. The operation was performed through a median sternotomy and the bleeding source was identified. The left-side of the ASO disc had cut through the roof of the left atrium between the superior vena cava and the aortic root, creating a 5-mm perforation. There was another perforation at the aortic root in the region of the non-coronary sinus of Valsalva, approximately 5 mm. The metallic rim of the ASO could be easily seen protruding through the roof of the left atrium. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established and cardiac arrest induced. After opening the right atrium we found the ASO, which was positioned well. The ASO was removed and the perforations of the aortic root and the left atrium were closed with 5-0 polypropylene directly. Then the ASD was closed using an autopericardial patch. The patient was weaned off bypass without difficulty. The postoperative course of the patient was uneventful and free of neurologic events. Finally, we conclude that patients with an aortic rim defect may be at higher risk for device perforation. Such a patient should be carefully followed up by echocardiography.
　Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 37: 341-344 (2008)