Cardiac Imaging in Infants and Children

Techniques, potential and role in the imaging work-up of various cardiac malformations and other pediatric heart conditions have increased in the past decades. This increase have greatly affected the prevalence of congenital heart disease (CHD) which can also be attributed to major improvements in diagnosis and treatment. Although echocardiography is the most commonly used imaging modality for diagnosis and follow-up of subjects with CHD, the evolution of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and increasingly computed tomography (CT) does offer new ways to visualize the heart and the great vessels. The development of cardiovascular MR techniques allows for a comprehensive assessment of cardiac anatomy and function. This provides information about the long-term sequlae of the underlying complex anatomy, hemodynamic assessment of residual post-operative lesions and complications of surgery. As much of the functional data in CHD patients is usually acquired with invasive X-ray angiography, non-invasive alternatives such as cardiovascular MR (and CT) are desirable. This review evaluates the role of MR imaging in the management of subjects with CHD, particularly detailing recent developments in imaging techniques as they relate to the various CHD diagnoses we commonly encounter in our practice.