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Updated: May 7, 2026
Evaluation of Left Ventricular Structure and Function using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
Ventricular performance after surgery for a congenital heart defect as assessed using advanced echocardiography: from
Insights
Long-term ventricular performance impairment is common after congenital heart defect (CHD) surgery. Echocardiography reveals persistent right-ventricular dysfunction in many adult CHD patients, impacting cardiovascular event risk.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Cardiac Surgery
Background:
- Ventricular performance impairment is a long-term consequence of congenital heart defect (CHD) surgery.
- This impairment carries prognostic value for cardiovascular events in adult CHD patients.
- Understanding the timing and causes of postoperative ventricular dysfunction is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review echocardiographic techniques for assessing ventricular performance post-CHD surgery.
- To summarize current literature on ventricular performance after CHD correction.
- To focus on the persistent postoperative impairment of ventricular function.
Main Methods:
- Review of echocardiographic techniques for ventricular function assessment.
- Synthesis of existing literature on echocardiographic findings in CHD patients post-surgery.
- Analysis of studies reporting ventricular performance after various CHD repairs.
Main Results:
- Ventricular performance generally decreases immediately after CHD surgery.
- Postoperative recovery of ventricular function varies among patients.
- Persistent right-ventricular performance impairment is consistently observed across diverse CHD repair subgroups.
Conclusions:
- Postoperative ventricular dysfunction is a significant concern in congenital heart defect (CHD) management.
- Echocardiography is key to monitoring ventricular performance after CHD repair.
- Right-ventricular impairment is a common, persistent finding, necessitating long-term surveillance.
Abstract:
A varying degree of impairment of ventricular performance is observed over the long-term after surgery for a congenital heart defect (CHD). Impaired ventricular performance has been shown to be of prognostic value for increased risk of cardiovascular events in adult CHD patients. This emphasizes the importance of delineating the timing and cause of this postoperative impairment. Impairment of ventricular performance could develop over time as a consequence of residua, sequelae and complications of the CHD or surgical procedure. Yet, impaired ventricular performance has also been observed immediately after surgery and can persist and/or worsen over time. This postoperative impairment of ventricular performance is the focus of this review. This article provides an overview of echocardiographic techniques currently used to assess ventricular performance. Furthermore, we review current literature describing ventricular performance, as assessed using echocardiography, after correction of a CHD. In general, a decrease in ventricular performance is observed directly after surgery for CHD’s. Subsequent follow-up of ventricular performance is characterized by a varying degree of postoperative recovery. A consistent observation is the persistent impairment of right-ventricular performance after repair in several different subgroups of CHD patients ranging from ventricular septal defect repair to surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot.
