Can we Trust in Routine Echocardiography to Assess the Right Ventricle and Pulmonary Insufficiency? A Comparative Study with Cardiac Magnetic Resonance.

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the method of choice for assessing right ventricular (RV) dimensions and function, and pulmonary insufficiency (PI).

Objectives: To assess the accuracy of two-dimensional echocardiography (2D ECHO) in estimating RV function and dimensions, and the degree of PI, and compare the 2D ECHO and CMR findings.

Methods: We compared ECHO and CMR reports of patients whose indication for CMR had been to assess RV and PI.

Current Use of Pediatric Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Brazil.

Background: Data on the use of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) on children in Brazil is lacking.

Objectives: This study sought to provide information on current pediatric CMR practices in Brazil.

Methods: A questionnaire was sent out to referring physicians around the country.

Does sedation influence cardiac magnetic resonance duration for children?

Purpose: The aims of our study were to compare cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) scan time (time elapsed between first and last acquired sequence) and room time (time elapsed between patients' entrance and exit of the MRI room) between sedated and non-sedated children and to assess the contributing factors.

Methods: It is a cohort study performed at a CMR facility in a tertiary-care center. We compared scan time and room time between sedated and non-sedated children and assessed the influence of gender, age, weight, height, body surface area, number of sequences, and patients' diagnosis/previous procedures.

Atrioventricular septal defect with coexisting tricuspid atresia.

We describe two infants having an atrioventricular septal defect in the setting of a double inlet atrioventricular connection, but with patency of the left-sided valvar orifice and an imperforate right-sided valvar component, and a further case with atrioventricular septal defect and an imperforate Ebstein's malformation, all producing the haemodynamic effect of tricuspid atresia. We make comparisons with the arrangement in trisomy 16 mice, in whom deficient atrioventricular septation is seen at times with the common atrioventricular junction exclusively connected to the left ventricle, a situation similar to that seen in two of our infants. We also review previous reports emphasising the important theoretical implication of the findings despite their rarity.

[Echocardiographic post-neonatal progress of preterm neonates with patent ductus arteriosus].

Objective: To identify clinical and echocardiography predictors of the spontaneous closure of patent ductus arteriosus in preterm neonates.

Methods: Sixty-one consecutive preterm neonates (gestational age 30+/-2 weeks, birth weight 1.2+/-0.

[Ebstein's anomaly: results of the conic reconstruction of the tricuspid valve].

Objective: To assess the results of a technical modification of tricuspid valvuloplasty in Ebstein's anomaly.

Methods: From November 1993 to August 2002, 21 patients with Ebstein's anomaly of the tricuspid valve, with ages ranging from 20 months to 37 years (mean, 23 years), underwent a new technique of tricuspid valvuloplasty. This technique consisted of total or almost total detachment of the anterior tricuspid megaleaflet from the ventricular wall and valvular ring, transforming it into a cone, whose vertex remained fixed in the right ventricular tip, and the base was sutured to the tricuspid ring, after its plication, adjusting it to the size of the base of the cone (tricuspid ring), including the septal region.

Anomalous subaortic course of the left brachiocephalic (innominate) vein: echocardiographic diagnosis and report of an unusual association.

Subaortic left brachiocephalic, or innominate, vein is an uncommon finding in congenital heart disease, usually associated with obstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract. We describe our experience with 14 patients in whom the lesion was identified echocardiographically, 12 of them with right ventricular obstruction, one with totally anomalous pulmonary venous connection in the absence of obstruction to the right ventricular outflow tract, and the final one with a normal heart. A precise diagnosis of this venous anomaly is of great importance, since it needs to be differentiated from a central pulmonary artery, a pulmonary venous confluence, or an ascending vertical vein in totally anomalous pulmonary venous connection.