Atrial Septostomy

Atrial septostomy is a surgical procedure in which a small hole is created between the upper two chambers of the heart, the atria. This procedure is primarily used to treat dextro-Transposition of the great arteries or d-TGA (often imprecisely called transposition of the great arteries), a life-threatening cyanotic congenital heart defect seen in infants. Atrial septostomy has also seen limited use as a surgical treatment for pulmonary hypertension. This technique was developed in 1966 by American surgeon William Rashkind (1922–1986) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

There are two types of this procedure: balloon atrial septostomy (also called endovascular atrial septostomy, Rashkind atrial balloon septostomy, or simply Rashkind's procedure) and blade atrial septostomy (also called static balloon atrial septostomy).