Percutaneous closure of a secundum atrial septum defect performed under hypnosis: a case report

Atrial septal defects (ASDs) are the third most common type of congenital heart diseases with ostium secundum defects (ASDsII) being responsible for approximately 75% of these defects. The treatment consists of either a transcatheter closure or a surgical intervention. The transcatheter approach offers a less invasive alternative for patients who fulfill anatomical and size criteria and is therefore increasingly used as the preferred primary intervention. As general anaesthesia is sometimes contra-indicated for some patients needing ASD or PFO closure and intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is not always readily available, alternative "supportive" techniques as hypnosis could be of interest. In our case, a relative contra-indication for general anaesthesia was pronounced due to the severely impaired pulmonary function caused by severe deformative torsional scoliosis. Over the years several reviews have been published on hypnotic analgesia used together with usual care suggesting that hypnotic analgesia is a promising non-pharmacologic adjunct treatment for ameliorating pain and surgical distress. Also, various cardiological procedures under hypnosis have already been described in literature, but this is the first time that percutaneous ASD closure under virtual reality (VR) hypnosis is mentioned in literature.

Right Atrial Myocardial Remodeling in Children With Atrial Septal Defect Involves Inflammation, Growth, Fibrosis, and Apoptosis

Introduction: Myocardial remodeling due to large atrial septum defect (ASD) is macroscopically characterized by dilation of the right-sided cardiac cavities secondary to volume overload, the cellular mechanisms of which are not yet understood. We postulated that inflammation, fibrosis, and cell death are actors of right atrial remodeling secondary to ASD. Patients and Methods: In 12 children with large ASD (median age: 63 months), expression of genes coding for proteins involved in the response to cell stress and -protection, inflammation, growth and angiogenesis, fibrosis, and apoptosis was assessed by RT-PCR in right atrial myocardial biopsies taken during cardiac surgery. The presence of cytokines in myocardial cells was confirmed by immunohistochemistry and effective apoptosis by TUNEL assay. Results: In all patients investigated, a cellular response to early mechanical stress with the initiation of early protective mechanisms, of inflammation (and its control), -growth, and -angiogenesis, of fibrosis and apoptosis was present. The apoptotic index assessed by TUNEL assay averaged 0.3%. Conclusions: In children with large ASD, macroscopic right atrial remodeling relates to cellular mechanisms involving the expression of numerous genes that either still act to protect cells and tissues but that also harm as they initiate and/or sustain inflammation, fibrosis, and cell death by apoptosis. This may contribute to long term morbidity in patients with ASD.