[MRI in postoperative assessment of univentricular heart disease: correlation with echocardiography and angiography]

To determine the value of MRI in the postoperative evaluation of a singular ventricle compared to echocardiography and cardiac catheterization.

Thirty-one patients (range: 6 months to 30 years) with a functional single ventricle following palliative corrective operations. Five patients had a Blalock-Taussig-Shunt, 8 patients a Glenn-Anastomosis and 18 a cavopulmonary shunt (6 with classic Fontan-Circulation, 12 with modified cavopulmonary anastomosis). The results in terms of postoperative morphologic changes were compared to percutaneous echocardiography (31/31) and cardiac catheterization (6/31).

Echocardiography, which was performed on all patients, could not visualize the entire length of the tunnel, the Glenn-Anastomosis or the central pulmonary arteries in 70 % of the patients due to an inadequate acoustic window. MRI was able to show the entire tunnel in 11/12 patients and the central pulmonary arteries in 30/31 patients. The exact anatomy was seen in all 6 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization.

MRI is useful in the postoperative evaluation of a functionally single ventricle. It is superior to echocardiography. Cardiac catheterization should be reserved for patients with inconclusive MRI findings.