Do you need sugery for atrial septal defect caused by a congenital defect?

Depends: There are two ways of closing an ASD - via surgery (suture closure) or via a umbrella like device by cath (device examples are amplatzer and helex). Your cardiologist will perform an echo which can help determine size of defect and area of septum surrounding defect. This all helps to determine if you are candidate for device closure or will need surgery.