Can heart defects be closed without surgery?
Many heart defects need an operation for their treatment and often this is an open-heart operation. Today newer developments in cardiac catheterization technology allow closure of selected patients with heart defects without an operation. This avoids the trauma of surgery and allows very rapid recovery. Examples of these heart defects include the atrial septal defect (ASD), the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and selected patients with ventricular septal defects. The procedures are performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory and require no more than a needle prick in the groin.
