Venoatrial pathways after the Mustard operation for transposition of the great arteries: anatomic and functional MR imaging.

PURPOSE

To evaluate spin-echo (SE) and cine gradient-echo (GRE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with velocity mapping for detecting late complications of the Mustard operation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-one patients were studied with MR imaging 1-22 years after undergoing the Mustard operation. Twenty were also studied with transthoracic echocardiography, 18 with angiocardiography, and five with transesophageal echocardiography.

RESULTS

MR imaging showed no venoatrial obstruction in nine patients. This result was confirmed with angiocardiography in seven cases and postmortem examination in one case. In one case, MR imaging demonstrated a leak at the baffle suture line. Of 12 cases with venoatrial obstruction at MR imaging, nine were confirmed with angiocardiography or surgery. There were two false-positive MR studies and one case in which no conclusion was reached.

CONCLUSION

With addition of cine GRE sequences and velocity mapping to SE sequences, MR imaging is a useful noninvasive method of investigating late complications of the Mustard operation.