Abstract

Although it is a common congenital cardiac lesion, secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) rarely presents in infancy. Its natural history in the first two decades of life is generally benign. Reports of symptomatic ASD in early childhood stress the place of conservative management, and recommend that the operation should be deferred until school age. Few accounts of the indications for surgery in infancy exist. We present our experience of 6 patients who failed to respond adequately to conservative treatment and required operation for intractable heart failure due to isolated secundum ASD in the first year of life. As their presentation and physical signs were not typical of ASD seen in later childhood, they presented problems both of diagnosis and management.