Partial atrioventricular septal defect

Patients with an atrioventricular septal defect have a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of the heart and a malformation of the mitral valve, which is the valve that regulates blood flow from the left side of the heart.

In the case of a partial atrioventricular septal defect, the upper part (atrial) or lower part (ventricular) part of the partition may be affected. In the case of a complete atrioventricular septal defect, the hole affects both the atrial and the ventricular chambers of the partition.

Symptoms

This heart condition may or may not present symptoms, depending on the size of the interatrial hole and the insufficiency of the mitral valve.

Where there are symptoms, the most common are those related to heart failure:

• Tiredness
• Breathlessness
• Difficulty gaining weight
• Heart murmur

Diagnosis

This is carried out through an echocardiogram to identify the presence of a defect and the degree of mitral insufficiency.

Typical treatment

This heart disorder is corrected through surgery, during which a patch is used to close the atrial septal defect and the mitral valve is repaired by closing the hole. The ideal age to repair a partial AV defect is from 1 to 4 years old.

The vast majority of patients with a repaired defect of this type have a similar life expectancy and quality of life to the general population. If it is not corrected, patients may develop pulmonary hypertension, a disease with drastically reduced survival rates from around thirty or forty years old.

A small percentage of patients (