MRI Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about MRI, including details on magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging, brain tumors.

Preoperative assessment and follow-up of congenital abnormalities of the pulmonary arteries using CT and MRI.

Ley S, Zaporozhan J, Arnold R, Eichhorn J, Schenk JP, Ulmer H, Kreitner KF, Kauczor HU

Department of Pediatric Radiology, University Children’s Hospital, Im, Neuenheimer Feld 153, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.

Congenital heart disease (CHD), including complex anomalies of the pulmonary arteries, are now earlier diagnosed and treated. Due to improvements in interventional and surgical therapy, the number of patients with the need for follow-up examinations is increasing. Pre- and postinterventional imaging should be done as gently as possible, avoiding invasive techniques if possible. With the technical improvement of multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), both techniques are increasingly used for noninvasive assessment of the pulmonary vasculature in children with CHD. Knowledge of the most common diseases affecting the pulmonary vasculature and the kind of surgical and interventional procedures is essential for optimal imaging planning. This is especially important because interventions can be positively influenced by high-quality imaging. Therefore, the most common diseases and procedures are described and imaging modality of choice and important image findings are discussed.

Published 11 January 2007 in Eur Radiol, 17(1): 151-162.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 MRI Research Today. All Rights Reserved.