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Updated: Jul 14, 2025
Echocardiographic Evaluation of Atrial Communications before Transcatheter Closure
Published on: February 8, 2022
Percutaneous closure of simple congenital heart diseases under echocardiographic guidance
Ying Jiang1, Fanyan Luo1, Haisong Bu2
1The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
Insights
Ultrasound-guided percutaneous closure offers a promising, radiation-free alternative for treating congenital heart defects (CHD). This technique reduces surgical trauma and improves cosmetic outcomes for patients with these common birth defects.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Minimally Invasive Surgery
Background:
- Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect globally, often requiring surgical intervention.
- Traditional surgical repair involves median sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass, while transcatheter closure uses radiation.
- Limitations of current methods include surgical trauma, radiation exposure, and potential arteriovenous complications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review advancements in ultrasound-guided percutaneous closure for congenital heart diseases.
- To highlight the effectiveness and operability of echocardiographic guidance in CHD treatment.
- To identify potential CHD cases that can benefit from this emerging, radiation-free procedure.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent literature on ultrasound intervention for percutaneous closure of CHD.
- Focus on procedures utilizing echocardiographic guidance exclusively.
- Analysis of the progress and clinical application of this technique over the past decade.
Main Results:
- Ultrasound intervention has demonstrated effectiveness and operability for percutaneous closure of CHD.
- This approach offers a viable alternative to traditional surgery and radiation-dependent transcatheter methods.
- The technique shows potential for reduced trauma, avoidance of radiation, and improved cosmetic results.
Conclusions:
- Echocardiographic guidance enables effective percutaneous closure of congenital heart defects.
- This minimally invasive strategy offers significant advantages, including reduced radiation exposure and trauma.
- Further understanding and promotion of ultrasound intervention can optimize CHD treatment and resource utilization.
Abstract:
Congenital heart disease (CHD), birth defect with the highest incidence rates worldwide, and is mainly characterized by the abnormal internal structure of the heart or/and the anatomical structure of great vessels. In the past few decades, CHD repair surgery through standard median sternotomy incision combined with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) technology has been considered the gold standard for surgical correction of heart and great vessels. With the promotion and clinical application of interventional catheterization technology, transcatheter closure of CHD under radioactive radiation has gradually been recognized and applied. However, its radiation exposure and potential complications related to arteriovenous vessels still face challenges. In recent years, an increasing number of surgeons have explored new surgical procedures, for the safe and effective treatment of CHD, as far as possible to reduce surgical trauma, avoid radiation exposure, and improve the cosmetic effect. Therefore, on the premise of satisfactory exposure or guidance, how to integrate ultrasound and percutaneous interventional technology remained the focus of the exploration. This mini-review highlights and summarizes the signs of progress of ultrasound intervention in the last decade that have proven the effectiveness and operability of a well-established procedure for percutaneous closure of congenital heart diseases under echocardiographic guidance only. We discuss potential diseases that will benefit from this emerging procedure based on this progress. Owing to the crucial advantages played by this strategy in the treatment of CHD, better understanding and promotion of this less exploited field may contribute to the development of therapeutics targeting CHD, improve medical utilization rate, promote the optimization of medical resources, and ultimately achieve precise and efficient medical treatment.
