Atrial Septal Defect

  My two year old daughter has been diagnosed with a 1cm asd via an echo.  Our cardiologist is recommending closure sooner rather than later.
  We have an option of using a catheter based technique, or going with open heart.  We are leaning open heart due to the newness of the catheter based.  Any thoughts on 1) waiting to have procedure done and 2) using open heart vs. catheter?
  Thank you

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Dear  Jim,  
Thank you for your question.  This is a decision that is between you and your cardiologist.  There are pro's and con's to each.  The pro's to the catheter technique is that it is relatively noninvasive and the patient is usually discharged the same or next day.  The con's include risk of device failure and the other risks of catheter procedures.
The pros of surgery include definitive repair of the ASD.  The cons include a longer hospital stay and the surgical risks.

I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.