Repaired Congenital Heart Disease in Older Children and Adults: Up-to-Date Practical Assessment and Characteristic Imaging Findings

Abstract

Because of a recent increase in survival rates and life expectancy of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), radiologists are facing new challenges when imaging the peculiar anatomy of individuals with repaired CHD. Cardiac computed tomography and magnetic resonance are paramount noninvasive imaging tools that are useful in assessing patients with repaired CHD, and both techniques are increasingly performed in centers where CHD is not the main specialization. This review provides general radiologists with insight into the main issues of imaging patients with repaired CHD, and the most common findings and complications of each individual pathology and its repair.

Keywords: Aortic coarctation; Congenital; Heart defects; Magnetic resonance imaging; Multidetector computed tomography; Tetralogy of Fallot; Transposition of great vessels.