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Updated: May 27, 2026
In vitro Assessment of Aortic Regurgitation Using Four-Dimensional Flow Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: February 25, 2022
Visualization of flow structures in Fontan patients using 3-dimensional phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging
Kartik S Sundareswaran1, Christopher M Haggerty, Diane de Zélicourt
1Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Objective:
Our objective was to analyze 3-dimensional (3D) blood flow patterns within the total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) using in vivo phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC MRI).
Methods:
Sixteen single-ventricle patients were prospectively recruited at 2 leading pediatric institutions for PC MRI evaluation of their Fontan pathway. Patients were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 comprised 8 patients with an extracardiac (EC) TCPC, and group 2 comprised 8 patients with a lateral tunnel (LT) TCPC. A coronal stack of 5 to 10 contiguous PC MRI slices with 3D velocity encoding (5-9 ms resolution) was acquired and a volumetric flow field was reconstructed.
Results:
Analysis revealed large vortices in LT TCPCs and helical flow structures in EC TCPCs. On average, there was no difference between LT and EC TCPCs in the proportion of inferior vena cava flow going to the left pulmonary artery (43% ± 7% vs 46% ± 5%; P = .34). However, for EC TCPCs, the presence of a caval offset was a primary determinant of inferior vena caval flow distribution to the pulmonary arteries with a significant bias to the offset side.
Conclusions:
3D flow structures within LT and EC TCPCs were reconstructed and analyzed for the first time using PC MRI. TCPC flow patterns were shown to be different, not only on the basis of LT or EC considerations, but with significant influence from the superior vena cava connection as well. This work adds to the ongoing body of research demonstrating the impact of TCPC geometry on the overall hemodynamic profile.
