MR angiography of congenital heart disease in adults

Magnetic resonance (MR) angiographic techniques are useful in evaluation of adult patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). The available techniques include cine, breath-hold ungated, and segmented k-space time-of-flight MR angiography. Three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction with maximum-intensity projection can be used with all of these techniques to demonstrate great vessel anomalies associated with CHD. Selective presaturation MR angiography can be used to detect intracardiac shunts. MR angiography allows clarification of difficult diagnostic points that are not fully demonstrated with other imaging techniques, such as cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography, echocardiography, nuclear medicine studies, and conventional spin-echo MR imaging. In many patients with CHD in adulthood, the use of appropriate MR angiographic techniques may allow definitive diagnosis and preclude the need for cardiac catheterization. The wide field of view, sensitivity to shunts, and rapid 3D imaging capability of MR angiography make it a valuable method of evaluating CHD in adults.