Echo-Doppler in the diagnosis and management of congenital heart disease.

Advancements in echo-Doppler technology now provide the capability for both high-quality anatomic imaging as well as the assessment of cardiac flows and hemodynamics. Given these capabilities, and the potentially complex nature of all congenital heart lesions, echo-Doppler is well suited for the diagnostic assessment of congenital heart disease. As a noninvasive, reliable, and relatively inexpensive tool, it is well suited for the longitudinal follow-up of patients with treated and untreated congenital heart lesions. Recent experience with intraoperative imaging has indicated that direct epicardial echo-Doppler examination provides clinically useful information for the surgeon treating congenital heart lesions. Echo-Doppler examination continues to evolve into a primary modality for the recognition, evaluation, and treatment of congenital heart disease.
(Copyright © 1991. Published by Elsevier Inc.)