CLINICAL
APPLICATION OF A NEW ELECTRONIC VIVISECTION METHOD OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL
ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF COMPLEX CONGENITAL HEART
MALFORMATIONS IN INFANTS
Sun K, Chen SB, Jiang H, et al
Shanghai Children��s Medical Center, Shanghai, China
Objective: This study attempted to evaluate our new
three-dimensional (3D) echocardiographic reconstruction method for 3D
vivi-sectional diagnosis of complex congenital heart malformations in
infants.
Methods: 24 cases of infants( 11 male,13 female, aged
6.53��4.60 months) with complex congenital heart malformations diagnosed
by our new designed ten three-dimensional echocardiographic section views.
The results were compared with that of two-dimensional echocardiography.
Angiocardiography and/or post-operative diagnosis was served as ��Gold
Standard��.
Results: Three-dimensional reconstruction was possible in
all patients but one. Additional information was provided for 16/23
patients (70%), ventricular configuration identification, and aorta septal
continuity and classification of atrial ventricular defect (AVSD) were the
items for which new three-dimensional echocardiographic method was most
useful. In 2/23 patients (9%), 2D echocardiographic diagnosis was corrected
by 3D echocardiography and confirmed by Angiocardiography and /or during
operation.
Conclusion: The new method could demonstrate detail
spatial information of inner cardiac structure of complex congenital heart
malformations in infants, and the results were more informative than in 2D
echocardiography.