Arteriovenous malformation of the vein of Galen in a newborn diagnosed with color Doppler examination--a case report.

A fourteen-day-old newborn infant presented with severe heart failure due to arteriovenous malformation of the vein of Galen. It was diagnosed by two-dimensional, pulsed-wave and color Doppler echocardiographic imaging. The latter method showed the afferent vessel to be the anterior cerebral artery entering an aneurysm of the vein of Galen at its posterior aspect. Information for surgical anatomic definition appears to be adequately provided by color Doppler examination, which permits avoidance of preoperative angiography.