Open heart surgery is the gold standard for the closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs). Percutaneous transcatheter closure is used to close simple ostium secundum ASDs. As this method avoids sternotomy, the post-procedural morbidity is lower. These procedures are associated with complications which can be life threatening and require urgent surgical intervention. We report a rare case which required surgical removal of the Amplatzer septal occluder and closure of the ASD four years after the initial percutaneous transcatheter closure due to displacement of the device.
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart New York.