Applications of diagnostic ultrasound and radionuclides to cardiovascular diagnosis. II. Cardiovascular disease in the young

Echocardiography is an excellent method for detecting structural cardiovascular abnormalities, and it provides important diagnostic information relevant to the care of young patients with a wide variety of cardiac disorders, particularly critically ill newborns with cyanotic congenital heart disease. This information is readily obtainable without moving the infant from the nursery. Later, using radionuclide techniques, left-to-right shunts may be detected and quantitative data obtained relating to the degree of right-to-left shunting; estimation of pulmonary blood flow and scintiphotographic assessment of the patency of surgically created shunts may be made. The noninvasive character of these techniques and their relative freedom of risk make them ideally suited for application to the young. Their present success suggests that their use will become more widespread and that they will contribute significantly to the management of patients in pediatric cardiology. (auth)