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Diagnostic Tools
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| Diagnostic tools have improved dramatically over the past few years, as depicted by the increased survival rate of infants born with congenital heart disease |
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Echocardiography |
Ultrasound that enables physicians to distinguish between different soft tissues. It can be used to observe a fetus (making antenatal decision-making and planning possible; Kleinert, 2001) and can also be performed using 3-D imaging. Doppler flow can determine the direction of blood movement so that regurgitation and septal defets can be detected as well.
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| Magnetic-Resonance Imaging (MRI) | 'MRI provides detailed pictures of the heart and blood vessels and can distinguish structure from moving blood. It can differentiate between myocardial and pericardial tissues. MRI clearly shows blood vessels and is a noninvasive procedure that can evaluate blood flow' (WebMD, 2001). |
| Cardiac Catheterization | A catheter is inserted into a vein or artery and is moved towards the heart. Blood samples from the heart can be taken, blood pressures can be measured, and a contrast medium can be injected to observe blood flow through the heart and surrounding vessels to define the defect (also known as contrast angiogram) (American Heart Association 2001). |
| Ultrasound-guided Fetal Balloon Valvuloplasty | A new experimental procedure which provides promising results as a way to repair some fetal defects in utero. |
| Tissue Strain-Rate Imaging | Using ultrasound, strain-rate imaging measures the rate of deformation in tissue by Doppler. It can also differentitate between actively deforming and passivly drawn muscle segments of the heart (Heimdel, 2001). |
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| Strain Rate Imagine Axial vs. Lateral (Heimdel, 2001) |
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