Subcostal cross-sectional echocardiographic imaging of patent ductus arteriosus.

A modified subcostal short-axis cross-sectional echocardiographic view for imaging the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) was studied. A total of 22 newborns with PDA and various associated cardiac anomalies and 16 newborns without PDA were examined. The PDA was imaged in the subcostal view in 19 newborns. In the control group, the absence of the PDA was established in 13 newborns and considered probable in three. The PDA was optimally imaged in the subcostal view in patients with normal or enlarged pulmonary artery, mainly those with the hypoplastic left heart. Among the eight patients with small pulmonary artery (pulmonary atresia or severe tetralogy of Fallot), the PDA was imaged in the subcostal view in three and in the suprasternal view in eight. By combining the suprasternal and the subcostal views, the PDA was imaged in each instance.