114 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN CHILDREN WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

Abstract

Electrocardiographic (ECG)-gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies were done on 23 children ages 1-17 yrs. with a 0.6 Telsa super-conducting magnet using coronal, transverse, sagittal and left anterior oblique planes. A spin echo pulsing sequence with a 30 msec time to echo delay was used. Two dimensional sections 0.75cm-1.0cm thick were obtained with an average scanning time of 4 min per viewing plane. Diagnoses included: tetralogy of Fallot (10), atrial septal defect (5), ventricular septal defect (3), single atrium (1), transposition of great arteries (1), subaortic stenosis (1), Intracardiac tumor (2). All diagnoses were confirmed by cardiac catheterization and/or echocardiography. MRI studies gave precise, diagnostic visualization of cardiac malformations in 21/23 cases. The transverse view afforded excellent visualization of ventricular and atrial septal defects, main pulmonary artery and its branches. The coronal view demonstrated the aortic arch, right ventricular outflow and inflow tracts. The sagittal view delineated aortic arch and right ventricular outflow tract anatomy. The left anterior oblique view localized ventricular septal defects, aortic arch abnormalities and demonstrated aortic override in tetralogy of Fallot. In cardiac tumors, the size, location and extent of myo-cardial attachment was well delineated by MRI. In summary, MRI is a safe, accurate, non-invasive test which gives detailed information of cardiac anatomy in congenital heart disease.

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