Multislice CT angiography of interrupted aortic arch.
Interrupted aortic arch (IAA) is defined as complete luminal and anatomic discontinuity between the ascending and descending aorta. Because almost all patients with IAA become critically ill during the neonatal period, they should undergo urgent corrective surgery. This clinical urgency necessitates a fast and accurate noninvasive diagnostic method. Although echocardiography remains the primary imaging tool for this purpose, it is not always sufficient for planning surgical correction of IAA, principally due to a limited acoustic window and the inexperience of imagers. In this context, multislice CT angiography is regarded as an appropriate imaging technique complementary to echocardiography because it is fast, accurate, and objective for the diagnosis of IAA. In this article we describe what cardiac radiologists should know about IAA in their clinical practice, including clinicopathological features, CT features with contemporary surgical methods and postoperative complications, and differentiation from coarctation of the aorta and aortic arch atresia.
Yang
Dong Hyun
DH
Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, 388-1 Poongnap-2 dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Goo
Hyun Woo
HW
Seo
Dong-Man
DM
Yun
Tae-Jin
TJ
Park
Jeong-Jun
JJ
Park
In-Sook
IS
Ko
Jae Kon
JK
Kim
Young Hwee
YH
D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D001017:Aortic Coarctation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed