What is the Difference Between Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defect

The key difference between atrial and ventricular septal defect is that atrial septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two upper chambers, while ventricular septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two lower chambers.

Congenital heart defects are a common type of birth defect present since birth and can affect the structure and function of a baby’s heart. They can affect how blood flows through the heart and out to the rest of the body. Congenital heart defects can vary from mild to severe. Normally, about 1 in 4 babies that are born with a heart defect have a critical congenital heart defect. Atrial and ventricular septal defects are two types of congenital heart defects.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Atrial Septal Defect
3. What is Ventricular Septal Defect
4. Similarities – Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defect
5. Atrial vs Ventricular Septal Defect in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Atrial vs Ventricular Septal Defect

What is Atrial Septal Defect?

An atrial septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two upper chambers (atria). The hole can vary in size. Sometimes, the hole may close on its own. In other cases, this condition may require surgery. Normally, when a baby’s heart develops during pregnancy, there are several openings in the wall dividing the upper chambers of the heart (atria). These holes usually close during pregnancy or shortly after birth. If one of these openings does not close, a hole is left, and this is called an atrial septal defect.

These types of heart defects may occur due to changes in a combination of genes or due to other factors like things the mother comes in contact with within the environment, what the mother eats or drinks, and the medicines the mother uses. The symptoms may include frequent lung infections, difficulty in breathing, tiring when feeding, shortness of breath during exercising, skipped heartbeats, etc. The most common test to diagnose this condition is an echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound of the heart. Furthermore, there are no medications to repair the hole. Closure of the hole may be recommended by health care providers through open-heart surgery.

What is Ventricular Septal Defect?

A ventricular septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two lower chambers. This hole occurs in the wall (septum) that separates the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart, which allows blood to pass from the left to the right side of the heart. The oxygen-rich blood then gets pumped back to the lungs instead of out to the body. This causes the heart to work harder and results in other complications. The symptoms may include poor eating, failure to thrive, fast breathing, easy tiring during eating or playing, not gaining weight, rapid or irregular heartbeat, etc.

This condition may occur with genetic problems such as Down syndrome. Moreover, environmental factors may also play a role. The complications that are involved in ventricular septal defect include heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, endocarditis, and other heart problems. The diagnosis of this condition can be performed through an echocardiogram, ECG, chest X-ray, cardiac catheterization, and pulse oximetry. The use of medications in this condition is to reduce the amount of fluid in circulation and in the lungs. Diuretics such as furosemide can be used for this purpose. Other treatment options include open-heart surgical repair and catheter procedure.

What are the Similarities Between Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defect?

• Atrial and ventricular septal defects are two types of common heart defects.
• Both conditions are congenital heart defects that present since birth.
• In both cases, the small holes are repaired by the body itself.
• Both conditions sometimes can be occurred in adulthood.
• Genetics and environmental factors are risk factors in both conditions.
• They are treatable through surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defect?

An atrial septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two upper chambers, while a ventricular septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two lower chambers. Thus, this is the key difference between atrial and ventricular septal defect. Furthermore, 1 in every 1859 babies born in the United States each year is born with an atrial septal defect, while in every 240 babies born in the United States each year is born with a ventricular septal defect.

The below infographic presents the differences between atrial and ventricular septal defect in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Atrial vs Ventricular Septal Defect

Congenital heart defects are a common type of birth defect present since birth. Atrial and ventricular septal defects are two types of congenital heart defects. An atrial septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two upper chambers, while a ventricular septal defect is a condition characterized by a hole in the wall between the heart’s two lower chambers. So, this summarizes the difference between atrial and ventricular septal defect.

Reference:

1. “Atrial Septal Defect (ASD).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 20 Dec. 2019.
2. “Congenital Heart Defects – Facts about Ventricular Septal Defect.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Nov. 2020.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Atrial septal defect-en” By Manco Capac – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Ventricular Septal Defect Patch” By BruceBlaus – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia