Normalization of the right heart and the preoperative factors that influence the emergence PAH after surgical closure of atrial septal defect

BACKGROUND: Surgical closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) is contraindicated in the condition with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), whereas ASD closure in an effective intervention to normalize the structure and function of the right heart after previously experiencing volume overload due to shunting from the defect. This study aimed to evaluate normalization of the right heart and emergence of PAH after surgical closure of ASD. METHODS: This retrospective study was carried out in 45 patients over 18 years who had undergone surgical closure of ASD. The study has the aim to evaluate the morphological and functional parameters before and after the surgical approach and the preoperative factors that influenced the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAP) after the ASD closure. RESULTS: The majority of subjects were female (73.3%) although there were no significant differences between males and females from the various parameters. The average of mPAP in the group that experienced PAH was higher than non-PAH group after ASD closure (p = 0.019, 31.23 ± 12.70 mmHg vs 24.07 ± 13.08 mmHg). Significant differences were found in the Right Atrium (RA) dimension, Right Ventricle (RV) dimension, Tricuspid Regurgitation Velocity (TRV) and Tricuspid Annular Plane Systolic Excursion (TAPSE) between before and at 6 months after ASD closure (p = 0.000, p = 0.000, p = 0.000, p = 000, respectively). The sensitivity of the predictive model to estimate PAH at 6 months after surgical closure of ASD was 58%, with a specificity of 62.5%. CONCLUSION: Structural and functional normalization of the right heart occurs at 6 months after surgical closure of ASD with the decrease of RA and RV dimensions and improvement from tricuspid regurgitation. Emergence of PAH after ASD closure was influenced by higher mPAP before surgical approach.