J Korean Med Sci.  1998 Dec;13(6):597-602. 10.3346/jkms.1998.13.6.597.

MR imaging of non-visualized pulmonary arteries at angiography in patients with congenital heart disease

• Choe YH
• Ko JK
• Lee HJ
• Kang IS
• Park PW
• Lee YT

• KMID: 1038439
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.1998.13.6.597

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether MR could depict pulmonary arterial anatomy in more detail than routine angiography in patients with congenital interruption or acquired occlusion of the left pulmonary artery or pulmonary atresia. This study included 10 patients with tetralogy of Fallot (n=6) or pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect (n=3) or aorticopulmonary window (n=1) diagnosed by cardiac angiography and MR. Surgical confirmation was made in seven patients. Interruption of the proximal left pulmonary artery, diagnosed at the time of evaluation, was found in seven patients and acquired obstruction of the hilar pulmonary artery (PA) was found in two at cardiac angiography. In the remaining one patient with pulmonary atresia and an occluded palliative shunt, the central PA was not visualized at angiography. MR showed 3-6 mm-sized hilar PAs in five and a central PA in a patient with pulmonary atresia. In 4 of 6 (67%) surgically-proven patients with congenital or acquired left PA obstruction, the status of the PA distal to the obstruction was correctly diagnosed with MR. In conclusion, MR is an effective modality in depicting sizable PAs when routine angiography fails to visualize the PA anatomy.

MeSH Terms

Adolescence
Adult
Arterial Occlusive Diseases/physiopathology
Arterial Occlusive Diseases/diagnosis*
Arterial Occlusive Diseases/congenital*
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Human
Infant
Magnetic Resonance Angiography/methods*
Male
Pulmonary Artery*/surgery
Pulmonary Artery*/physiopathology
Pulmonary Artery*/abnormalities
Pulmonary Atresia/physiopathology
Pulmonary Atresia/diagnosis*