Noninvasive Assessment of Vascular Function in Postoperative Cardiovascular Disease (Coarctation of the Aorta, Tetralogy of Fallot, and Transposition of the Great Arteries).

Using noninvasive techniques, we sought to assess arterial stiffness, impedance, hydraulic power, and efficiency in children with postoperative tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), coarctation of the aorta (COA), and transposition of the great arteries (TGAs). Results were compared with those of healthy peers. Fifty-five children with repaired congenital heart disease (24 TOFs, 20 COAs, and 11 TGAs) were compared with 55 age-matched control subjects (CTRL).

Noninvasive assessment of vascular function and hydraulic power and efficiency in pediatric Fontan patients.

Background: Invasive studies have shown that children with Fontan palliation have abnormal arterial stiffness, impedance, and hydraulic power and efficiency. The aim of this study was to assess these indexes noninvasively in a cohort of children with Fontan circulation using Doppler echocardiography and compare their results with those of healthy peers.

Methods: This was a case-control study of 22 Fontan patients and 31 healthy control children.

A novel method to estimate the aortic pressure waveform using B-mode ultrasound images acquired from a suprasternal view.

A novel method to obtain the aortic pressure waveform using a sequence of B-mode images is developed in this project. An automatic edge detection algorithm is applied to a sequence of longitudinal images of the aortic arch acquired from a suprasternal view. The aortic distension waveform is obtained by measuring the distance between the two edges throughout the cardiac cycle.