[Value of biplane transesophageal echocardiography in congenital abnormalities of the heart atrium and venous-atrial connection].

BACKGROUND: Transesophageal echocardiography with transversal planes offers many advantages in the evaluation of patients with congenital anomalies of atrium, allowing visualization of obscure areas, not visualized with traditional echocardiography, as appendages, venous connections, upper interatrial defects. The aim of this paper is to check what advantages the transesophageal imaging in longitudinal plane, recently insert in biplane probes, might confer over transversal plane imaging in the evaluation of patients with congenital heart disease of atrium and venous connections. METHODS: We carried out a prospective study on 70 patients (49 adults and 22 children) with congenital heart diseases of this area. Fifty-six studies out of 71 were preoperative diagnostic, 15 were carried out in the late postoperative period. Twenty-two studies were performed under general anaesthesia during concomitant cardiac catheterisation, 49 were carried out in outpatient clinic. All the transesophageal diagnoses were subsequently confirmed at either catheterization or surgery. Lesions studied included 36 atrial septal defects (ASD) ostium secundum, 6 interatrial septal aneurysms, 1 ASD coronary sinus, 5 ASD venous sinus, 5 partial and 2 complete atrioventricular septal defects, 1 double outlet right ventricle; in operated patients 2 ASD ostium secundum, 2 ASD sinus venosus, 11 post Mustard or Senning in TGA. RESULTS: Anomalies either better defined or that obtained important additional informations by long axis scanning (vs transverse scanning) included: ASD ostium secundum 36/36, ASD multiple 1/3, caval obstruction in Mustard or Senning 4/5, anterior mitral valve cleft 2/5, left superior vena cava to coronary sinus 3/3. Features visualized by longitudinal plane alone were: ASD coronary sinus 1/1, caval obstruction in sinus venosus operated 1/1, multiple ASD 2/3, coronary artery fistula to right atrium 1/1; for associated features anterior bringing leaflets 2/2, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction 2/2, right ventricular outflow tract obstruction 1/1. Anomalies better characterized by transversal plane versus longitudinal plane were: ASD ostium primum 2/7, ASD sinus venosus sinus 3/5; for associated anomalies VSD inlet 1/1. Features visualized by transversal plane alone were: right upper pulmonary vein in superior vena cava 4/4, right upper pulmonary vein to right atrium 1/1, DIA ostium primum 5/7, ASD sinus venosus 2/5, superior vena cava obstruction in Mustard 1/5, left juxtaposition of the atrial appendages 1/1. The transversal plane alone provided the correct morphologic and hemodynamic diagnosis in 74/88 (84%) (in this group longitudinal plane gave 68% additional informations), the longitudinal planes in 69/88 (78%). However in 11% of cases longitudinal plane was the only means for identifying the congenital lesion and transversal plane in 16%. It was the combination of longitudinal and transverse scanning which gave in 97% the correct complete morphologic diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Thus we conclude that both planes are required for optimal transesophageal evaluation of congenital disease of atrium and venous connection.