Congenital Heart Defects

A congenital heart defect is a heart abnormality that you’re born with. These defects can be simple with no symptoms or complex defects with severe side effects. Signs or symptoms of a congenital heart defect may not show up until later in life.

Some more common congenital heart defects that we treat in children and adults include:

Atrial septal defect (ASD) – A hole in the wall between the upper two heart chambers where septal tissue is missing
Patent foramen ovale (PFO) – A hole in the wall between the upper two heart chambers that can cause stroke or other conditions
Aortic and mitral valve stenosis – Narrowing of the heart valves that restricts normal blood flow

How we treat congenital heart defects

Some of the treatments we use for congenital heart defects include:

ASD and PFO closures – These are surgical procedures to close or repair irregular holes in the heart.
TAVR – Transcatheter aortic valve replacement, in which we place a mechanical valve in the place of a damaged aortic valve. The procedure typically involves shorter recovery times than traditional open heart surgery.
TMVR – Transcatheter mitral valve replacement is a minimally-invasive technique to treat mitral valve regurgitation.

SCL Health Heart Vascular Institute - Vascular

Congenital Heart Defects

How we treat congenital heart defects

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