INTRAVASCULAR ULTRASOUND IMAGING OF A PATENT DUCTUS-ARTERIOSUS IN AN ADULT

A small patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is compatible with a normal lif e span. A non-restrictive PDA may present with signs of heart failure, supraventricular arrhythmia's, bacterial endocarditis or endarteritis later in life.1,2 Fewer than 50% of patients, including those with sm all shunts, are symptomatic by the age of 50.(3) Considering that 40% of patients with PDA's will die before the age of 45 as a result of ba cterial endocarditis or heart failure, closure of the PDA is recommend ed. Exceptions are patients with a nondilated heart, a right-to-left s hunt, or age greater than 60 years old.4 Because of the wider use of e chocardiography, especially transesophageal echocardiography, many PDA 's are now detected incidentally in patients without symptoms.