Khan MS, et al. - Via this systematic review and meta-analysis of 16 studies including 204 patients (mean age, 35.8 years; 73.1% women), researchers analyzed the evidence supporting the use of balloon atrial septostomy (BAS) in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). They identified these studies from MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Clinicaltrials.gov, published from inception through May 2018. Excluding studies comparing BAS vs other septostomy procedures, they included original studies describing results with PAH before and after BAS. Findings highlighted the relative safety of BAS in advanced PAH, as well as its beneficial hemodynamic impacts. A bridging role for BAS was indicated by the observed relatively high postprocedural and short-term survival with less impressive long-term survival.