POSTOPERATIVE PULMONARY VASCULAR SUPPLY IN CONGENITAL HEART-DISEASE EVALUATED WITH MR-IMAGING AT 0.3 T

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of static spin -echo MR imaging at low field strength in evaluating postoperative pul monary arterial supply. Twenty-seven patients operated on for complex congenital heart disease underwent cardiac MR imaging: 27 stenoses in 20 patients and 4 aneurysms were present in the material. Five patient s had normal pulmonary arteries. Twenty stenoses were detected on MR i mages. Five of the overlooked stenoses were located in the ventricular outflow tract or in the valvular region. All four aneurysms were well depicted. The final diagnoses were based on two-dimensional echocardi ography, Doppler and invasive studies. MR correctly evaluated the pulm onary arterial supply in 21 patients. In two cases the evaluation was incomplete and in the remaining four patients MR failed to show the st enoses. MR imaging at 0.3T is an effective non-invasive tool for posto perative evaluation of pulmonary arteries.