[Echocardiography in Ebstein's anomaly. Apropos of 12 cases]

The authors report 12 cases of Ebstein's disease, and have studied the echocardiographic findings in these cases. The results have been compared with those of a control series of 12 patients with an atrial septal defect and a large shunt effect. There are only two conditions which are important in the diagnosis of Ebstein's disease: the finding of the tricuspid valve beyond the midclavicular line, and a delay in the closure of the tricuspid valve greater than or equal to 0.06 seconds when compared with the mitral valve. Using these two criteria, the diagnosis could be made by echocardiography in 10 cases out of 12.