title: Echocardiographic assessment of left-to-right shunt volume in children with ventricular septal defect.
abstract: Echocardiograms were performed in 20 infants and children with isolated ventricular septal defects (VSD) undergoing cardiac catheterization. The magnitude of the left-to-right shunt was expressed as the pulmonary-to-systemic flow ratio (Qp/Os) and was compared to a ratio of the echographic left atrial (LA) diameter to the aortic root (Ao) diameter (LA/Ao). The Qp/Qs was also compared to LA/m2. Thirty-three normal children served as controls. The LA/m2 and Ao/m2 were significantly larger in normal infants under one year of age than in children above one year. The LA/Ao, however, was not influenced by age or size. A strong linear relationship was found between Qp/Qs and the LA/Ao (r = 0.96). The LA/Ao measurement appears to be helpful in the noninvasive assessment of the left-to-right shunt in patients with VSD.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004452:Echocardiography; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn