What are the long-term effects of atrial septal defects?

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What are the long-term effects of atrial septal defects?

Normally, the right side of the heart pumps blood that is low in oxygen to the lungs, while the heart’s left side pumps oxygen-rich blood to the body. When you have an ASD, blood from the left and right sides mix, and can keep your heart from working as well as it should.

If your ASD is larger than 2 cm, you have a greater risk of problems such as:

  • Right heart enlargement, which leads to heart failure.
  • Abnormal heart rhythms, including atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, affect 50 to 60 percent of all patients over 40 with an ASD.
  • Stroke.
  • Pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the arteries that supply blood to the lungs). Blood normally flows from the left side of the heart to the right, but having an ASD and severe pulmonary hypertension can cause the blood flow to be reversed. When this happens, oxygen levels in the blood drop, which leads to a condition called Eisenmenger syndrome.
  • Leaking tricuspid and mitral valves caused by an enlarged heart.

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