Abstract 17266: Right Atrial Volumes Changes in Tetralogy of Fallot

Abstract

Introduction & Hypothesis: There is limited information on right atrial (RA) function in the congenital heart defects. RA volume and function may give insight into the right ventricle (RV) diastolic function. We sought to assess RA function in tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) patients prior to and after complete surgical repair. Methods: Infants with TOF prior to complete repair were included for retrospective chart review and offline analysis of 2-dimensional echocardiograms (echo) before and after surgical repair. RA phasic volumes and stroke volumes were calculated. All volumes were indexed to body surface area. Results: There were 40 infants with TOF (45% females), of which 70% had pulmonary stenosis, 30% pulmonary atresia. Roughly 85% and 60% had 3, or more, echo available pre- and postoperatively. Table 1 (attached) shows the patient characteristics and phasic RA volumes. The indexed RA phasic volumes were in normal range in initial echo prior to surgery. We used normal index RA phasic volumes published by European Society of Echocardiography. There was the increasing trend of indexed RA phasic volume on follow up echo immediately before TOF repair. These phasic volumes continued to remain elevated after complete surgical repair (Table 1). Trends in RA stroke volumes for all available echos before and after surgery were modeled using a population-averaged model with an exchangeable within-panel correlation structure (Figure 2), showing no statistically significant difference after surgery. But there was statistical significance noted in RA ejection fraction. Please see attached image for statistical analysis and results of the study. Conclusions: The indexed RA phasic volumes in children with TOF are normal initially and increases before TOF repair and it continued to increase after TOF repair. The increase RA phasic volumes suggest RV diastolic dysfunction similar to the findings of LA phasic volumes and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Our findings indicate slow worsening RV diastolic function in patients with TOF after surgical repair. RA volume and function can be the novel marker to diagnose and monitor right ventricular diastolic dysfunction.