PATIENT SELECTION FOR REPAIR OF COMPLETE ATRIOVENTRICULAR-CANAL GUIDED BY ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY

Objective. Two-dimensional, Doppler and color-flow echocardiography is accepted as a safe diagnostic tool to guide the surgical treatment of certain congenital heart defects, Its role for surgical indication in patients with complete atrioventricular canal (cAVC) is described in this paper. Methods. Between July 1989 and January 1995, 80 patients w ith cAVC underwent primary repair in our Institution. In 73 surgery wa s guided only by echocardiography (Group I), while in the remaining 7 patients (Group II) cardiac catheterization was performed because of u nclear diagnosis and/or suspected associated malformations. Results. E chocardiography showed an overall sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 93% in detecting associated malformations. Discussion. Based on the se data and on the knowledge of the natural history of pulmonary vascu lar changes in patients with cAVC we think that echocardiography might be adequate for selection of infants with uncomplicated forms of cAVC for primary repair.