Amplatzer device closure of large atrial septal defects is challenging. A large device tends to malalign with the plane of the interatrial septum or prolapses through the defect. We describe a balloon assisted technique which has been successfully used in over 300 cases without a single technical failure.

OBJECTIVE - To report the results of percutaneous occlusion of persistent ductus arteriosus with the Amplatzer prosthesis in 2 Brazilian cardiological centers. METHODS - From May 1998 to July 2000, 33 patients with clinical and laboratory diagnosis of persistent ductus arteriosus underwent attempts at percutaneous implantation of the Amplatzer prosthesis. The median age was 36 months (from 6 mo...

BACKGROUND Transcatheter closure of coronary artery fistulas has emerged as a successful alternative to surgery. We describe various techniques and short-term findings in 15 patients who were taken up for transcatheter closure of these fistulas. METHODS AND RESULTS Fifteen patients (aged 2-55 years; 12 males) with coronary artery fistulas underwent percutaneous transcatheter closure between J...

(A) Before the procedure, large residual ventricular septal shunts could be seen between the occluder and the peak of apex (Online Video 1). (B) After the procedure, the shunts decreased significantly (Online Video 2). LV 1⁄4 left ventricle; RV 1⁄4 right ventricle. A 58-year-old man with exertional dyspnea (New York Heart Association class II) was admitted to our hospital. He suffered from acut...

OBJECTIVE Transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) with Amplatzer device is an alternative procedure to surgical repair, with some limitations. The aim of this study was to assess the initial and mid-term results of the treatment of ASD with Amplatzer septal occluder in children and adolescents. METHODS From May 2003 to January 2008 sixty three consecutive children and ado...

Transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defect has become an alternative to surgery. We present a patient with hemodynamic collapse secondary to cardiac perforation occurring 36 h after the placement of an Amplatzer Septal Occluder and discuss complications of this kind of device.

Rupture of the interventricular septum is an uncommon but often fatal complication of acute myocardial infarction. Transcatheter closure is an established method of treating selected congenital defects but clinical experience on transcatheter closure of postinfarction ventricular septal defects (VSDs) is minimal. We report a case of successful transcatheter closure of postinfarction VSD using t...

We report a case in which fracture of an Amplatzer perimembranous ventricular septal defect (VSD) device occurred within 1 month after placement. This was associated with severe tricuspid regurgitation. Surgical removal of the device and repair of the tricuspid valve was performed with reasonable outcome. We propose a hypothesis on how this complication might have occurred and how it could be p...

The surgical and transcatheter coil closure of coronary arterial fistulas are described in the literature. We report our experience with the successful transcatheter closure of a coronary arterial fistula, arising from the left coronary artery and draining into the right ventricle, with the new Amplatzer duct occluder II device.

A through review of the literature identified only 20 reported cases of fistula involving the internal mammary (internal thoracic) artery and a lobar branch of a pulmonary artery. Surgical closure was frequently done to avoid complications associated with this anomaly. We report the first patient in whom percutaneous treatment was accomplished with a combined technique involving an Amplatzer Du...