Patent ductus arterious (PDA) is a common congenital heart defect. Some adults with PDA are often associated with severe pulmonary hypertension and frequently have to forgo their chance of surgery because the lung conditions progress to Eisenmenger syndrome ( ). Therefore, early treatment should be performed as soon as a diagnosis of PDA is established. Several methods, including surgical ligation and transcatheter occlusion, have been currently employed for the treatment of PDA. However, surgical ligation has major disadvantages, such as significant trauma and other complications associated with thoracotomy. Transcatheter occlusion must be carried out under fluoroscopy and angiography, which causes inevitable radiation injury. Furthermore, closure of a large-sized PDA defect is technically challenging and carries a risk of device embolization ( , ).
展开▼
