Evaluation of aortic regurgitation in congenital heart disease: value of MR imaging in comparison to echocardiography

Evaluation of the severity and the follow-up of aortic insufficiency (AI) are important tasks in paediatric cardiology. Assessment is based on clinical and echocardiographic (ECHO) findings such as the configuration of the valve and the regurgitation fraction (RF). The goal of this study was to evaluate MRI compared to ECHO for determination of clinical severity, valve morphology and RF. Thirty patients (age 3-27 years) with mild-to-severe AI were evaluated by clinical examination, ECHO (2-D and Doppler), and MRI at 1.5 T (2-D true-FISP cine short axis, phase-contrast flow in the ascending aorta). Both methods identified 13 bicuspid and 17 tricuspid valves. Good correlations between ECHO and cine MRI were found for ventricular mass, stroke volume, and ejection fraction. A good linear correlation was found for the RF determined by ECHO and phase-contrast MRI (r = 0.7). The RF was 6% in mild AI, 17% in moderate AI, and 30% in severe AI. The different severity groups showed significantly different RF and it was possible to discriminate between clinical severity grades (P 0.01). ECHO and MRI showed good agreement in evaluating morphology and function of the left ventricle. The clinical severity of the disease can be evaluated correctly using MRI. (orig.)