title: Cardiovascular imaging trends in congenital heart disease: a single center experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT are available in the recent era at many pediatric cardiac centers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to provide a contemporary description of diagnostic imaging trends for definition of congenital heart disease (CHD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, cardiac MRI, and cardiac CT use in patients with congenital heart disease at a single institution was retrospectively recorded (2005-2012). Surgical procedures were recorded. Total and modality-specific rates were estimated by Poisson regression and compared. The median age, studies in patients aged >17 years, and referral diagnosis were tabulated for the last year of review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An average of 11,940 cardiovascular diagnostic tests was performed annually. The number of total studies, echocardiograms, catheterizations, and surgical procedures, did not change significantly across time. Echocardiography comprised 95% to 97% of all studies performed during each year of review. The use of cardiac MRI (2%) and cardiac CT (1%) increased linearly (P < .001), and the use of diagnostic catheterization decreased (0.7%; P = .0005). The median age was 3 years for echocardiography, 15 years for MRI, 11 years for CT, and 3 years for catheterization. The percentage of patients aged >17 years was 9% for echocardiography, 33% for cardiac MRI, 29% for cardiac CT, and 8% for catheterization. Most patients undergoing CT, MRI, and diagnostic catheterization had moderate or complex CHD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cardiac CT is used increasingly in the recent era for evaluation of CHD. The increased use of both cardiac CT and cardiac MRI are temporally associated with a decrease in diagnostic cardiac catheterization.
authors: The Children's Heart Clinic at The Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, 2530 Chicago Ave South, Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55404, USA; The Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Electronic address: khan@chc-pa.org.
authors: B Kelly
authors: BK
authors: Han
authors: The Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors: Andrew M
authors: AM
authors: Lesser
authors: The Children's Heart Clinic at The Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, 2530 Chicago Ave South, Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55404, USA.
authors: Marko
authors: M
authors: Vezmar
authors: The Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors: Kristi
authors: K
authors: Rosenthal
authors: The Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors: Stephanie
authors: S
authors: Rutten-Ramos
authors: The Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors: Jana
authors: J
authors: Lindberg
authors: The Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Caye
authors: The Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors: John R
authors: JR
authors: Lesser
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D008910:Minnesota; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D014600:Utilization Review
keywords: Cardiac CT; Cardiac MRI; Cardiac catheterization; Congenital heart disease; Pediatrics; Trends