Left atrial (LA) decompression in infants with thick atrial septum placed on veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be reliably achieved with transcatheter atrial septal (AS) stent placement. However, with myocardial recovery and ECMO decannulation the stent causes a permanent left to right shunt and surgical removal of the AS stent is usually accomplished. Transcatheter removal of AS stent is an attractive option as the advantages of LA decompression would then be coupled with the advantage of avoiding a sternotomy for surgical removal of the stent. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of successful transcatheter retrieval of AS stent used for LA decompression in a 13-month-old child.
Keywords: atrial septal stent; snare; transcatheter stent removal.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.