Ebstein's anomaly presenting in adulthood: the role of cine magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis.

Three adult patients with late presentation of Ebstein's anomaly were studied using MRI, including cine MRI. Spin-echo MRI demonstrated a large right atrium in each case and suggested an abnormal tricuspid valve in two. Systolic signal loss, on cine MRI, deep within the right ventricular cavity correctly indicated the presence of an abnormally positioned and incompetent tricuspid valve, and the diagnosis of Ebstein's anomaly in each patient. Selective presaturation MRI demonstrated an associated atrial septal defect in one patient. The diagnosis was confirmed by echocardiography in each case and cardiac catheterization with contrast angiography in one case. Cine MRI clearly demonstrates abnormal tricuspid valve morphology and function in Ebstein's anomaly and is a useful technique when other imaging is unclear.