Diagnosis of congenital cardiac defects with use of a fiberoptic catheter-pressure-cinetrace system

Abstract The application of a catheter tip oximeter incorporating a lumen, which allows simultaneous recordings of intracardiac oxygen saturation and pressure, to the diagnosis of patients with congenital heart disease is described. When combined with the cinetrace system, intracardiac oxygen saturation and pressure could be correlated precisely with the anatomic position of the catheter tip. Fifty patients with congenital heart disease and intracardiac and great vessel shunts were studied. The detection, localization and quantification of left to right shunts required no withdrawal of blood, and the findings were in close agreement with the results of the 85 krypton inhalation test. The fiberoptic catheter incorporating a lumen for pressure recording allows beat to beat display of the relations among intracardiac and intravascular oxygen saturation, shunt flow, pressure and the electrocardiogram. The simultaneous visual display of catheter position, hemodynamic data, blood oxygen saturation, and electrocardiogram on cine film permits rapid, complete and accurate assessment of the condition of children and adults with congenital cardiac defects.