A septal defect is a hole in the wall of your heart. It is congenital, which means you are born with this condition. You may be diagnosed with this as a child or adult.
In the past, many people with holes in their hearts had to have open-heart surgery. Now, Emory Heart & Vascular offers a minimally invasive procedure using a catheter. Recovery time is significantly shorter than with traditional open surgery.
Treatment options include:
- Medications: Medications can’t fix a septal defect. But they can improve your symptoms. Septal defect medications include beta-blockers, blood thinners and diuretics that reduce excess fluid in your body.
- Minimally invasive catheter procedures: Our doctors guide a thin, flexible tube (a catheter) to your heart through a blood vessel in the groin or arm. They insert a small device and a mesh patch through the catheter to fix the hole. We remove the catheter after we activate the device.
- Open surgery: This procedure involves making a cut (incision) through your chest wall. Like catheter procedures, our surgeons use a patch to close the hole. Surgery is the only option to fix some septal defects.
Our Heart & Vascular experts will work with you to determine the best treatment for you.
