Recent advances in pediatric echocardiography

Abstract

Echocardiography is the fundamental tool in the management of children with congenital heart disease (CHD), and cross-sectional echocardiography is still the main technique used for diagnosis and therapeutic planning. Recent advances in pediatric echocardiography include 3D echocardiography and functional imaging. The recent development of specific pediatric probes allows imaging of pediatric hearts with high temporal and spatial resolution. Lesions are often anatomically complex, and 3D echocardiography allows increased appreciation of complex spatial relationships and can thereby be valuable in understanding functional anatomy and planning interventions. Assessment of pediatric myocardial function can be difficult, with highly variable ventricular morphology. Assessment of right ventricular function and function of the single ventricle are current challenges in CHD. The introduction of myocardial tissue Doppler velocities and deformation imaging (strain and strain-rate quantification) facilitates the quantification of myocardial function independent of underlying morphology. These techniques offer new insights into the mechanics of CHD.