Various transcatheter devices and methods to close congenital heart defects are currently available. Devices have been designed specifically for atrial septal defect (ASD), patent foramen ovale (PFO), and ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure. The trend in interventional treatment of intracardiac shunts shows toward defect-specific systems. The PFO is a tunnel defect requiring occluders that adapt to its length while common ASD strongly vary in their diameter, making a large scale of device sizes indispensable. VSDs are predominantly sealed by coils or tissue-adapted devices like muscular or perimembranous occluders. Since VSDs may occur with an aneurysm (VSA), a multi-perforated septum, an instable myocardial situation (postinfarction) or a high interventricular pressure gradient, closure of these defects is regarded sometimes as complicated. But during the last 30 years (since King and Mills implanted the first double-umbrella occluding system) several studies have proven procedure efficacy and safety of both ASD and VSD closure. This article reviews a large scale of studies and includes our single center data on 1,609 PFO, ASD, and VSD patients.

Background Cardiac autonomic dysfunction after myocardial infarction identifies patients at high risk despite only moderately reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. We aimed to show that telemedical monitoring with implantable cardiac monitors in these patients can improve early detection of subclinical but prognostically relevant arrhythmic events. MethodsWe did a prospective investigator-initiated, randomised, multicentre, open-label, diagnostic trial at 33 centres in Germany and Austria. Survivors of acute myocardial infarction with left ventricular ejection fraction of 36-50% had biosignal analysis for assessment of cardiac autonomic function. Patients with abnormal periodic repolarisation dynamics (≥5•75 deg²) or abnormal deceleration capacity (≤2•5 ms) were randomly assigned (1:1) to telemedical monitoring with implantable cardiac monitors or conventional follow-up. Primary endpoint was time to detection of serious arrhythmic events defined by atrial fibrillation 6 min or longer, atrioventricular block class IIb or higher and fast non-sustained (>187 beats per min; ≥40 beats) or sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02594488.

Transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs) has become a routine procedure in many countries of the world. It spares many patients cardiac surgery and has proven efficacy in long-term studies. Device improvements have resulted in a continuous reduction of complications and of residual shunt frequency. ASD closure devices are also used for transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) for prevention of paradoxical embolism. In the past few years, there has been increasing interest in developing devices specifically designed for PFO closure. Although transcatheter closure of ASDs is well established, interventional closure of the left atrial appendage is in its development stage. Closure of the left atrial appendage is designed to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation in whom anticoagulation with Warfarin-type drugs is contraindicated. This article describes the latest developments in catheter closure of PFO and the left atrial appendage.

Schellong's test is suitable as a diagnostic procedure for orthostatic dysregulation only, and tilt-table testing is highly superior for objectification of the diagnosis and differentiation of syncope.

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