Surgical treatment for secundum atrial septal defects in patients >40 years old

We prospectively examined whether surgical treatment of secundum atrial septal defects (ASDs) in patients > or =40 years old improves their long-term clinical outcome. Surgical treatment of secundum ASDs in adults > 40 years old is a subject of controversy because of the perception of good long-term clinical outcomes in patients with unrepaired ASDs and the lack of data from randomized trials. We recruited 521 patients > 40 years old with...