[2] Congenital (at birth) atrial septal defect refers to a hole being in the septum or wall that separates the two atria; this condition is usually seen in fetuses and infants.

In general, unless the ASD and mitral stenosis causing Lutembacher's syndrome is severe, symptoms may not appear until the second and third decade of the patient's life.

[citation needed] Major symptoms of Lutembacher's syndrome as a result of ASD and MS can range from heart failure to pulmonary congestion.

[7] Once a baby is born and the lungs begin to fill with air and the blood flow of the heart changes, a tissue flap (somewhat like a trap door) called the septum primum closes the foramen ovale or hole between the two atria and becomes part of the atrial wall.

[citation needed] There is no exact mechanism for Lutembacher's syndrome but instead a combination of disorders as the result of Atrial septal defect (ASD) and/or Mitral valve stenosis.

[citation needed] The failure of the hole between the right and left atrium to close shortly after birth is the cause behind ASD primum.

Once a baby is born and the lungs begin to fill with air, the blood flow of the heart changes; a tissue flap (septum primum) normally closes the hole (foramen ovale) between the two atria and becomes part of the atrial wall.

[1][7] Sometimes, the direction of blood flow is largely determined by the left and right ventricle ability to squeeze (contract) and relax (compliance).

If mitral valve stenosis is a result of birth defects during development stemming from rheumatic fever, several things may occur in the heart.

Rheumatic fever causes the immune system to attack its own protein tissues leading to lesions forming on the mitral valve flaps.

Lutembacher's syndrome is diagnosis primarily by physical examinations for heart sounds, electrocardiograms, chest radiogram, transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiography, color flow mapping, and Doppler imaging.

Use of the various test can help to differentiate other possible conditions such as mitral regurgitation, Ebstein disease, ventricular septal defect (VSD).

[9] A chest radiogram can be given to a patient to determine:[citation needed] Transthoracic or Transesophageal echocardiography two dimensional images that can be made of the heart.

[2][11] The advantage to using percutaneous procedures instead of open-heart surgery is not needing general anesthesia, blood transfusions, and the recovery time is quicker.

[2] Additionally, if a hole is needed to be inserted into the atria to obtain access to the mitral valve, there is a risk of developing ASD secondarily.

[2] Possible side effects from this non-invasive procedure could be:[citation needed] If any of the above symptoms occur, it is important to contact your doctor to prevent another lapse of mitral stenosis.

To ensure good health, routine doctors visits, diet, weight loss, doctor-approved exercise, and use of antibiotics in dental and other procedures are recommended.

In fact an ASD closure is often recommended for certain cases such as with a patient who has significant left-to-right shunt with a pulmonary and/or systemic flow fraction of Qp/Qs >1.5.

[citation needed] This procedure is done by placing a device such as Amplatzer "umbrella", CardioSEAL similar to percutaneous transcatheter therapy.

[citation needed] To increase quality life following ASD procedures/surgeries, patients should have a physical exam and ECG every 3, 6, and 12 months with their cardiologist.

[10] For many patients with secundum ASD closure repair, they can return to their normal activities unless their procedure was heart catheterization which in this case they should rest for a few days.

For patients who had heart surgery to repair the defect or received a transcatheter closure device, they will need to take some form of antibiotics to prevent infections such as endocarditis for at least 6 months following the procedure.

[15] Given the many possible treatments that are to come, future research is continuing to find better methods of treating Lutembacher patients non-invasively as with percutaneous therapy.