Diagnostic techniques in cardiac disorders: Part II

Advances in technology over the past 15 years have given birth to a new field of multidisciplinary cardiovascular care and research, that of perinatal cardiology. Today's neonatal nurse must become familiar with the battery of tools that may be enlisted to assist in the assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and evaluation of cardiac disorders and therapeutic maneuvers in the neonate. In the first part of this two-part article, the standard initial examination of the history and physical, the chest x-ray, and the electrocardiogram were reviewed. This second part discusses the role of both invasive and noninvasive "high-tech" diagnostic techniques commonly used in today's management of neonatal cardiac disease.