Discordance between the European and the United States guideline criteria for atrial septal defect closure in adult patients with pulmonary hypertension and its clinical impact

Background

The criteria for ASD closure in patients with PAH are different between the AHA/ACC and the ESC guidelines. We aimed to study the prevalence of patients with different guideline criteria for ASD closure and its impact on the clinical outcome after closure.

Methods and results

A retrospective cohort study recruiting patients who underwent ASD closure from 2011–2020 was conducted in a single university hospital. Patients were grouped into ASD closure recommended (class I, class IIa, and class IIb) and ASD closure not recommended groups (class III). The primary outcome was the prevalence of patients with discordant criteria and the clinical outcomes and echocardiographic parameters after ASD closure. A total of 17 of 66 ASD patients (25.8 %) were diagnosed with ASD with pulmonary hypertension. Two patients were excluded due to incomplete right heart catheterization data. 13 patients (86.7 %) were classified as ASD-closure recommended group by both guidelines. Two patients, classified as class IIb by ACC/AHA guidelines, were unsuitable for ASD closure by ESC guidelines. After ASD closure, all 15 patients reported functional class improvement and no significant difference in the echocardiography parameters. However, the number of patients with a low probability of PHT was higher in patients with ESC guideline-recommended closure.

Conclusions

Most patients (86.7 %) are in concordant classification regarding ASD closure recommendations. The ESC guidelines are more restrictive than the AHA/ACC guidelines, allowing fewer patients for ASD closure. However, the clinical outcomes after ASD closure are not significantly different between these guidelines.