Morphologic and functional evaluation of congenital heart disease by magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has evolved sufficiently to be recognized as a useful complementary noninvasive method to echocardiography in the evaluation of congenital heart disease (CHD). In some cases, MRI is superior to other imaging modalities, particularly in the evaluation of thoracic aortic anomalies and in defining the anatomy of central pulmonary arteries; it is also the procedure of choice in the postoperative follow-up of patients with CHD. Recent technological advances permit not only morphological evaluation (provided by spin-echo and MR angiographic techniques) but functional and flow information (provided by fast cine-GE and velocity-encoded sequences), causing it to be recognized by pediatric cardiologists and cardiac surgeons as an unavoidable technique for pre- and postoperative evaluation of some CHD. This review describes the various techniques used in the evaluation of CHD with emphasis on recent developments as well as recognized clinical applications. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999;10:639-655.