Atrial Septal Defects

D EFECTS in the atrial septum are of relatively great clinical importance. They are the most common of all congenital cardiac malformations, constituting as a single lesion 7 to 25 per cent' and as a combined lesion perhaps as high as 85 per cent2 of all congenital cardiac anomalies. Moreover, they are not infrequently accompanied by disturbances in circulation which cause symptoms sufficiently severe to compel the patient or the patient's family to seek medical help. Except for an occasional instance, they are not as yet among those congenital cardiac lesions that are amenable to surgical treatment Since these defects are not operable, their recognition is of importance in deciding whether a given congenital lesion can or cannot be treated surgically. With further surgical progress, possibly in the directions already being taken by Santy,3 Murray,4 and others, the sure recognition of atrial septal defects may become the prelude to their repair.