Congenital Heart Disease
Congenital heart disease (CHD) represents the most common birth defect and affects approximately 1.2% of all live births and is the leading cause of birth defect-related deaths. CHD patients require frequent diagnostic testing in order to plan surgical repair, assess preoperative risk, and/or survey for important long-term complications. Standard diagnostic tools, however, often involve invasive catheter-based procedures, ionizing radiation, and/or lengthy 60-90 minute Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) exams, necessitating sedation or general anesthesia in pediatric patients. Our goal is to develop a new comprehensive cardiovascular 4D flow MR exam that can replace the long standard MR imaging protocol and reduce or eliminate exposure to general anesthesia. Patient-specific post-hoc analysis will allow retrospective quantification of cardiac function and flow without limitation to predefined 2D scan planes.
Investigators: Michael Markl (PhD), Cynthia K Rigsby (MD), Kelly Jarvis (PhD), Alex Barker (PhD), Susanne Schnell (PhD), Joshua Robinson (MD)
Funding: NIH National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute; American Heart Association
Fontan Circulation
 |
 |
In severe cases, a patient is born with only one fully functioning ventricle and must undergo a series of surgeries to deliver blood flow to the heart and lungs. The final surgical procedure creates the Fontan circulation which results in systemic venous return being directly supplied to the lungs through the pulmonary arteries without passing through the heart. Non-uniform distribution of caval blood flow to the left and right lung is suspected to cause complications in patients with Fontan circulation. Using 4D flow MRI, we can visualize and quantify flow differences among patients with Fontan circulation in-vivo. Additionally, preliminary studies provide evidence of a link between Fontan geometry and changes in flow distribution. Our goal is to improve the assessment of Fontan function by investigating novel quantitative measures of blood flow distribution and exploring their relationship with Fontan geometry.
Publications:
Transposition of the Great Arteries
 |
 |
Transposition of great arteries (TGA) is a severe congenital heart defect when a patient is born with the aorta and pulmonary arteries switched, causing serious complications due to low oxygen delivery to the body. TGA can be corrected by the arterial switch operation but one of the most common complications following this procedure involves the narrowing of the pulmonary arteries. Narrowing of blood vessels (or stenosis) can be detected by areas of high blood flow velocity. This research focuses on using 4D flow MRI to detect stenosis by measuring the peak velocities in the pulmonary arteries and aorta in patients after the arterial switch operation.
Publications: