ULTRASOUNDCARDIOGRAPHY IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN

Ultrasoundcardiography (UCG) studies have been performed in about three hundred children. The age of the children varied between 1 day and 16 years. Most of the studies have been performed without premedication and all without discomfort. The UCG-technique has been found valuable for demonstration of dilatation of the right ventricle both in cyanotic and acyanotic congenital heart disease. In studies of lesion affecting the tricuspid valve pathological UCG-findings have been obtained in patients with tricuspid atresia and Ebsteins anomaly. The method has also been found useful in evaluation of the state of the mitral valve. Pathological findings have been obtained in congenital mitral stenosis, mitral atresia and other forms of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in endocardial cushion defects and in mitral regurgitation. The UCG-technique also provides information about the outflow tract of the left ventricle. Pathological findings have been obtained in cases with membraneous subvalvular aortic stenosis and hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. Pericardial effusion and thrombosis in the right atrium may be demonstrated by this technique. No complications have been observed.