Rescue atrial septal defect closure with the new GORE® cardioform atrial septal defect occluder.

Atrioventricular block (AVB) is an infrequent but life-threatening complication of transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect (ASD), accounting for 0.1%-6.2% of cases in large series. It has been related to unfavorable defect anatomy as well as size and intrinsic stiffness of the occluding device. In this setting, the new GORE® cardioform ASD occluder (GCA) device could be an appealing technical advance in ASD treatment. We report a case of complete AVB after ASD closure with an Amplatzer septal occluding (Abbott, Plymouth MN, USA) device successfully treated by its percutaneous retrieval and "rescue" deployment of GCA device few months later.