The term 'atrioventricular septal defect' (AVSD) covers a spectrum of congenital heart malformations characterized by a common atrioventricular junction coexisting with deficient atrioventricular septation. In ostium primum atrial septal defect (ASD) there are separate atrioventricular valvar orifices despite a common junction, whereas in complete AVSD the valve itself is also shared (summary by Craig, 2006).
AVSD, also designated endocardial cushion defect or atrioventricular canal defect (AVCD), is known to occur in either a nonsyndromic (isolated) form or, more commonly, as part of a malformation syndrome. The 2 syndromes most frequently associated with AVSD are Down syndrome (190685), in which AVSD is the most frequent congenital heart defect, and Ivemark syndrome (208530) (summary by Carmi et al., 1992).
For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of atrioventricular septal defects, see AVSD1 (606215). [from
OMIM]