Potential diagnosis of hemodynamic abnormalities in patent ductus arteriosus by cine magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Cine magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 11 patients with communication between systemic and pulmonary circulation. In five patients with uncomplicated patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), ductus arteriosus was delineated by a persistent band of low signal intensity, whereas in two patients who also had severe pulmonary hypertension the signal intensity was varied. Two separate low signal intensities in the main pulmonary artery and the descending aorta were each uniformly recorded in the five patients with uncomplicated PDA, consistent with continuous left-to-right shunt and turbulent flow acceleration, respectively. In one of the patients with severe pulmonary hypertension but not Eisenmenger's syndrome, the areas of low signal intensity from left-to-right shunt and turbulent flow acceleration diminished. In the patient with Eisenmenger's PDA the right-to-left shunt was also characterized by an area of low signal intensity but with a reversal in direction. Cine MR imaging has the potential to be a noninvasive and supplemental method for evaluating PDA.