What are the chances of passing an atrial septal defect from a parent to a child?

Very low: An asd, as well as most heart defects, are not hereditary traits that are passed on from parent to offspring.

3-5%: The incidence of congenital heart disease in the general population is 0.8%. In patients with first degree relatives with chd, the incidence is 3-5%. There are some forms of familial ASD and the risk may be higher. Genetic testing is being developed, but not yet available for asd. I recommend that all of my patients with ASD have thier first degree relatives screened with echocardiograms.