The role of stress echocardiography in children.
Exercise and pharmacological stress echocardiography are well-accepted techniques of evaluating coronary artery disease in adults. In children, however, experience with stress echocardiography is limited and continues to evolve. The objective of this focused review was to describe the experience with exercise and dobutamine stress echocardiography in the pediatric population, with an emphasis on technique, current indications, and future directions. Experience is reported in children with prior Kawasaki disease or heart transplant recipients, as well as patients with congenital coronary abnormalities. In addition, stress echocardiography has been used in patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery to evaluate short- and long-term graft patterning. Stress echocardiography appears to be a feasible, safe, and useful modality for the noninvasive assessment of flow-limiting stenosis in the pediatric population and can be used serially in the routine follow-up and risk stratification in children at risk for coronary events.
Pahl
E
E
Department of Pediatrics, Children's Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University Medical School, 2300 Children's Plaza, Box 21, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
Duffy
C E
CE
Chaudhry
F A
FA
D002648:Child; D003330:Coronary Vessel Anomalies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004280:Dobutamine; D004452:Echocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
D004280:Dobutamine