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Imaging Modalities in Congenital Heart Disease

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Abstract

Cardiac imaging provides invaluable guidance at all stages of the management of congenital heart disease. Advances in the field of cardiac imaging have contributed immensely to improved outcomes of these patients. Echocardiography remains the first-line imaging modality. Non-invasive cross-sectional imaging using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging supplements morphologic and physiologic evaluation and are being increasingly used for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with a malformed heart. Cardiac catheterization, being invasive, is mostly reserved for accurate assessment of hemodynamic status and percutaneous interventions. Simultaneous improvement in visualization techniques has amplified the information obtained from various imaging modalities. This review provides an overview of cardiac imaging and visualization techniques commonly used in the diagnosis and management of patients with congenital heart disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

SS prepared the initial draft of the manuscript. SKG reviewed and approved the manuscript. Dr. Rohit Manojkumar, Professor of Cardiology, PGIMER, Chandigarh is the guarantor for this paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saurabh Kumar Gupta.

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Electronic supplementary material

Video 1

Trans-thoracic echocardiogram in apical four-chamber view showing dilated left ventricle. Increased diastolic dimension and less than normal reduction during systole indicate ventricular dysfunction. (MP4 897 kb)

Video 2

Trans-thoracic echocardiogram in parasternal short axis view showing origin of left main coronary artery from pulmonary artery with reversal of flow in left anterior descending artery (LAD) seen on color Doppler interrogation. (MP4 2180 kb)

Video 3

Trans-esophageal echocardiogram (TEE) in aortic short axis view at mid-esophageal level showing ASD shunting from left atrium to right atrium. Left-to-right shunt is depicted as blue flow as the TEE probe lies in the esophagus posterior to the heart. (MP4 5185 kb)

Video 4

Axial section producing four chamber view in fetal echocardiography, demonstrating normal size of all four cardiac chambers, normally functioning both atrio-ventricular (AV) valves and intact interventricular septum (IVS). (MP4 2817 kb)

Video 5

Right ventricular angiogram in AP cranial view using NIH catheter showing hypertrophied right ventricle and severe infundibular and valvular pulmonary stenosis. Bilateral confluent pulmonary arteries are well seen. (AVI 35847 kb)

Video 6

Left ventricular angiogram in LAO cranial view using pigtail catheter showing a large mal-aligned VSD (#) with aortic override. (AVI 18950 kb)

Video 7

Aortic root angiogram in LAO cranial view using pigtail catheter showing normal origin coronary arteries from left and right aortic sinuses. Mild aortic regurgitation is also present. (AVI 18694 kb)

Video 8

Descending thoracic aortogram in AP view using pigtail catheter shows contrast opacification of DTA. Two aorto-pulmonary collaterals are seen arising from DTA at T4-T5 level. (AVI 15621 kb)

Video 9

Descending thoracic aortogram in lateral view performed using multi-purpose catheter showing PDA between descending thoracic aorta and pulmonary artery. Note that the catheter has crossed the PDA from pulmonary end into the aorta. (AVI 8965 kb)

Video 10

Descending thoracic aortogram in lateral view performed using pigtail catheter placed via femoral artery. The ductal occluder is positioned well with no residual flow. (AVI 12549 kb)

Video 11

Magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with Ebstein anomaly. Four chamber view with dilated right atrium, displaced septal tricuspid leaflet and tricuspid valve regurgitation can be noted. Dilated atrialized portion of right ventricle can be appreciated (MP4 830 kb)

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Sachdeva, S., Gupta, S.K. Imaging Modalities in Congenital Heart Disease. Indian J Pediatr 87, 385–397 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-020-03209-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-020-03209-y

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