Is steroid therapy enough to reverse complete atrioventricular block after percutaneous perimembranous ventricular septal defect closure?

Abstract

Due to the close proximity of the perimembranous ventricular septal defect to the conduction system, complete atrioventricular block may occur after transcatheter closure in around 1-5% of cases. Some authors reported on successful use of steroids and aspirin in reversing complete atrioventricular heart block early after transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect using the Amplatzer membranous ventricular septal defect occluder. In this paper, we report a case of reappearance of complete atrioventricular block requiring a definitive pacemaker implantation after an initial successful reversal using both steroids and aspirin.