Pulmonary arteriography in congenital heart disease

Pulmonary outflow tract obstruction may occur at subvalve, valve, or pulmonary artery level. Selective ventriculography will usually define the intracardiac obstruction (whether valve, subvalve, or both) and may define pulmonary arterial abnormalities. Increasing experience in the surgical management of patients with tetralogy of Fallot and other conotruncal abnormalities characterized by significant pulmonary outflow tract obstruction suggests that preoperative recognition of pulmonary arterial stenosis is essential to the successful operative management of these patients (1-4). Because of the anatomicospacial relationships of the pulmonary arteries in "simple" (tetralogy of Fallot) and complex conotruncal malformations, selective ventriculography may not invariably provide sufficient detail about the morphologic state of the pulmonary arteries. Similarly, even selective pulmonary arteriography in the standard anterioposterior, lateral, and oblique views may not always allow accurate anatomic assessment of these vessels. Therefore, we wish to document a maneuver that has proved valuable in the assessment of pulmonary arteries during selective pulmonary arteriography. This maneuver was originally suggested to Peter M. Olley by Dr. L. M. Bargeron, Jr., and the surgical valve obtained from this angiographic view was stressed by Dr. John Kirklin in his John Keith lecture at the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (5). Although it is being used at some cardiovascular centers, we feel its application warrants this report.