Role of ECG gated CT Angiography in evaluation of Congenital Heart Diseases - Our experience

Monika Bapat Puranik; Karuna Agawane; Swapnil Puranik; Swapndeep Singh Atwal; Dimple Shah; Hemant Deshmukh

Volume : VII, Issue : XI, November - 2018

Role of ECG gated CT Angiography in evaluation of Congenital Heart Diseases - Our experience

Monika Bapat Puranik, Karuna Agawane, Swapnil Puranik, Swapndeep Singh Atwal, Dimple Shah, Hemant Deshmukh

Abstract :

Purpose: Detailed anatomical evaluation of cardiac morphology is one of the most important prerequisite for planning surgical intervention as there is high incidence of associated complex vascular and extra vascular anomalies and variants with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). Echocardiography (ECG) gated Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) shows a very promising role for in this regard due to its high spatial resolution and non invasive nature. The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of CTA in diagnosis of CHD and to determine the conditions in which CTA supersedes other investigations.

Material/Methods: The study comprised of 43 consecutive patients with CHD who were referred for ECG gated CTA. A comparison with 2D Echocardiography (2D Echo) findings was done both for confirmation of findings and also to look for significant additional information with respect to associated anomalies which were either missed or could not be picked up on 2D Echo.

Results: CTA is a high resolution, non invasive modality in morphological evaluation of CHD and is highly effective in visualization of almost all cardiac, extracardiac vascular and other associated pulmonary anomalies. It plays a complimentary role to 2D Echo, however exposure to ionizing radiation and lower cost effectiveness are its disadvantages, hence 2D Echo remains the first line investigation in CHD.

Conclusion: Combination of CTA with 2D Echo has more diagnostic accuracy than 2D Echo alone for evaluation of complex CHD. CTA plays an important complimentary role and can replace diagnostic cardiac catheterization in most of the complex CHD.