198. ACHD: Cardiovascular Multimodality Imaging in Congenital Heart Disease with Dr. Eric Krieger

CardioNerds (Daniel Ambinder), ACHD series co-chairs,  Dr. Josh Saef (ACHD fellow, University of Pennsylvania) Dr. Daniel Clark (ACHD fellow, Vanderbilt University), and ACHD FIT lead Dr. Jon Kochav (Columbia University) join Dr. Eric Krieger (Director of the Seattle Adult Congenital Heart Service and the ACHD Fellowship, University of Washington) to discuss multimodality imaging in congenital heart disease. Audio editing by CardioNerds Academy Intern, Dr. Maryam Barkhordarian. Special introduction to CardioNerds Clinical Trialist Dr. Shiva Patlolla (Baylor University Medical Center). In this episode we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the imaging modalities most commonly utilized in the diagnosis and surveillance of patients with ACHD.  Specifically, we discuss transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, cardiac MRI and cardiac CT. The principles learned are then applied to the evaluation of two patient cases – a patient status post tetralogy of Fallot repair with a transannular patch, and a patient presenting with right ventricular enlargement of undetermined etiology. The CardioNerds Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) series provides a comprehensive curriculum to dive deep into the labyrinthine world of congenital heart disease with the aim of empowering every CardioNerd to help improve the lives of people living with congenital heart disease. This series is multi-institutional collaborative project made possible by contributions of stellar fellow leads and expert faculty from several programs, led by series co-chairs, Dr. Josh Saef, Dr. Agnes Koczo, and Dr. Dan Clark. The CardioNerds Adult Congenital Heart Disease Series is developed in collaboration with the Adult Congenital Heart Association, The CHiP Network, and Heart University. See more Disclosures: None Pearls • Notes • References • Guest Profiles • Production Team CardioNerds Adult Congenital Heart Disease PageCardioNerds Episode PageCardioNerds AcademyCardionerds Healy Honor Roll CardioNerds Journal ClubSubscribe to The Heartbeat Newsletter!Check out CardioNerds SWAG!Become a CardioNerds Patron! Pearls - Cardiovascular Multimodality Imaging in Congenital Heart Disease Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is the first line diagnostic test for the diagnosis and surveillance of congenital heart disease due to widespread availability, near absent contraindications, and ability to perform near comprehensive structural, functional, and hemodynamic assessments in patients for whom imaging windows allow visualization of anatomic areas of interest.Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) use in ACHD patients is primarily focused on similar indications as in acquired cardiovascular disease patients: the assessment of endocarditis, valvular regurgitation/stenosis severity and mechanism, assessment of interatrial communications in the context of stroke, evaluation for left atrial appendage thrombus, and for intraprocedural guidance. When CT or MRI are unavailable or contraindicated, TEE can also be used when transthoracic imaging windows are poor, or when posterior structures (e.g. sinus venosus, atrial baffle) need to be better evaluated.Cardiac MRI (CMR) with MR angiography imaging is unencumbered by imaging planes or body habitus and can provide comprehensive high resolution structural and functional imaging of most cardiac and extracardiac structures. Additional key advantages over echocardiography are ability to reproducibly quantify chamber volumes, flow through a region of interest (helpful for quantifying regurgitation or shunt fraction), assess for focal fibrosis via late gadolinium enhancement imaging, and assess the right heart.Cardiac CT has superior spatial resolution in a 3D field of view which makes it useful for clarifying anatomic relationships between structures, visualizing small vessels such as coronary arteries or collateral vessels, and assessing patency of larger vessels (e.