Cause‐Specific Mortality of Patients With Atrial Septal Defect and Up to 50 Years of Follow‐Up

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the long‐term mortality and cause‐specific mortality of patients with atrial septal defect (ASD) in a nationwide cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: All patients diagnosed with simple ASD in the hospital discharge registry from 1969 to 2019 were included in the study. Complex congenital defects were excluded. Each subject was matched with 5 controls according to sex, age, and municipality at the index time. Adjusted mortality risk ratios (MRRs) were calculated using Poisson regression models. The median follow‐up time was 11.1 years. Patients with ASD had higher overall mortality during follow‐up, with an adjusted MRR of 1.72 (95% CI, 1.61–1.83). Patients with closed ASDs also had higher total mortality (MRR, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.10–1.51]). However, no difference in mortality was detected if the defect was closed before the age of 30 (MRR, 1.58 [95% CI, 0.90–2.77]), and transcatheter closed defects had lower mortality than the control cohort (MRR, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.42–0.99]). Patients with ASD had significantly more deaths due to congenital malformations (MRR, 54.61 [95% CI, 34.03–87.64]), other diseases of the circulatory system (MRR, 2.90 [95% CI, 2.42–3.49]), stroke (MRR, 1.89 [95% CI, 1.52–2.33]), diseases of the endocrine (MRR, 1.88 [95% CI, 1.10–3.22]) and respiratory system (MRR, 1.71 [95% CI, 1.19–2.45]), ischemic heart disease (MRR, 1.62 [95% CI, 1.41–1.86]), and accidents (MRR, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.05–1.89]). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ASD had higher overall mortality compared with a matched general population cohort. Increased cause‐specific mortality was seen in congenital malformations, stroke, and heart diseases.