Clinical manifestations of kawasaki disease: What are the significant parameters.

The initial differential diagnosis of Kawasaki disease (KD) from other acute febrile illnesses infants and children is particularly difficult in patients who exhibit incomplete criteria. The objective of this study was to de-termine the differences in the clinical and laboratory findings between KD patients and those who were initially sus-pected of having KD but eventually had other diagnoses. One hundred and fourteen pediatric patients who were initially diagnosed with suspected KD were included. Eighteen cases were finally diagnosed with another disease. The only demographic data that were significantly different between the groups were body height and the duration of fever. The KD group exhibited more classical clinical criteria than those who were finally diagnosed with another disease. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and platelet count were significantly higher in the KD group than in the non-KD group. An ESR ≥ 40 mm/hour had a diagnostic sensitivity of 90.5%, a specificity of 66.6%, a positive predictive value of 93.4%, and a negative predictive value of 57.1%. The incidence of coronary aneurysm in this study was 6.2%. There was no correlation between ESR and coronary aneurysm. We conclude that the clinical criteria are the basis for the diagnosis of Kawasaki disease but the ESR can be helpful in pediatric patients with acute febrile illness who do not exhibit all clinical criteria.

Arrhythmia in early post cardiac surgery in pediatrics: Siriraj experience.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence, risk factors and outcome of early postoperative arrhythmias in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A prospective study was conducted in every pediatric patient who consecutively underwent open-heart surgery at Siriraj Hospital from January 1st to December 31st, 2006. The collected data were demographic data, diagnosis, pre-operative arrhythmia, cardiac surgical data and continuous electrocardiographic monitoring data throughout the post operative intensive care period. RESULTS: A total of 191 pediatric patients underwent cardiac surgery. Forty-five cases (23.5%) developed early post operative cardiac arrhythmias i.e. junctional ectopic tachycardia 18 cases (40%), heart block 7 cases (15.6%), supraventricular tachycardia 2 cases (4.4%). Cardiac arrhythmia occurred mostly within 24 hours after the operation. Patients with single ventricle physiology repaired developed the highest incidence of acute post operative arrhythmia (36.4%). Longer, cardiopulmonary bypass time- and redo-operation were the risk factors. Thirty-nine cases were treated with medications, 7 cases with temporary pacing, and 1 case with electrical cardioversion. Four patients needed long-term anti-arrhythmic agents. Cardiac arrhythmia played role in the causes of death in 2 cases (1.1% of total cases). CONCLUSIONS: Post operative arrhythmias remained common and important complications of pediatric open-heart surgery. Long cardiopulmonary bypass time and redo-operation were risk factors for early post operative arrhythmia.

Truncus arteriosus: Siriraj experience.

Between January 1st, 1995 and December 31st, 2004, a total of 30 children (17 girls, 56.7% and 13 boys, 43.3%) were diagnosed to have truncus arteriosus at the Department of Pediatrics, Siriraj Hospital. The ages at the first diagnosis ranged from 1 day to 3 years (median 120 days). The predominant clinical presentations were congestive heart failure (53.3%), cyanosis (30%) and feeding problems (26.7%). All patients had heart murmur. Chest roentgenogram demonstrated cardiomegaly and increased pulmonary vascularity in 86.7% and 83.3%, respectively. Electrocardiogram showed a frontal plane QRS axis in a range of 0-90o in 70% of the patients, left ventricular hypertrophy and biventricular hypertrophy in 50% and 40%, respectively. Echocardiogram revealed type I anomaly in the majority of the patients (80%), and type II in the rest of patients. Ten percent of the patients had right-sided aortic arch. The majority of the patients received more than one medication for controlling heart failure. Sixteen patients (53.3%) were operated at the median age of 133 days and median weight of 3.8 kilograms. Thirteen percent of the patients (2 cases) had palliative surgery (pulmonary artery banding) and 87.5% of patients (14 cases) underwent total correction. All patients who had total repair had immediate complications, of which the majority (57.1%) were pulmonary hypertensive crisis. There were a total of 9 deaths (30%); 7 patients died immediately (<14 days) post total repair, 2 patients died preoperatively. During follow-up (median 57.9 months), all patients were asymptomatic except one patient (90.9%) who was re-operated on for conduit replacement due to severe stenosis and truncal valve repair due to severe regurgitation at 22 months after the first operation. Three patients have been waiting for surgery. In the present study, we could not definitely relate the associated risk factor with mortality such as the age at surgery, preoperatively high pulmonary vascular resistance or truncal valve abnormality. However, it seems that the older age at surgery may be the possible risk factor. Therefore, early diagnosis and surgical intervention for this anomaly should be considered.

Pre-operative evaluation with magnetic resonance imaging in tetralogy of fallot and pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative evaluation of patients with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect (PA/ VSD) are generally done by echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization. The authors' objective of the present study was to compare the findings of Gadolinium (Gd) enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with cardiac catheterization. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Patients who had PA/VSD were prospectively evaluated using cardiac catheterization and cardiac MRA. A branch of the pulmonary arteries was divided into: main pulmonary artery (MPA), left and right branch pulmonary artery (LPA & RPA), major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (MAPCA) and minor collaterals. Each study was interpreted blindly. The agreement of findings was compared using Kappa statistics. RESULTS: There were 43 patients who received both cardiac catheterization and cardiac MRI within a 2 month period The average age was 13.8 +/- 8.4 (2-30) years-old. There was an agreement among measurement of both MPA and LPA & RPA with Kappa statistics of more than 0.8. Gd-enhanced MRA was able to identify more branches of MAPCA when compared to cardiac catheterization. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study indicate that Gd-enhanced MRA is a feasible, fast and accurate technique for identification of all sources of pulmonary blood supply in patients with complex pulmonary atresia. The present study was a noninvasive alternative to cardiac catheterization. Gd-enhanced MRA can better delineate small (minor) branches of collateral.

A retrospective study of bosentan in pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) plays a significant role in morbidity and mortality of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Bosentan, a dual endothelin receptor antagonist has been approved for PAH patients with Eisenmenger physiology (EP). The authors retrospectively reviewed the efficacy and safety of bosentan in Thai PAH patients associated with CHD. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study population was obtained from the databases of the CHD patients at Siriraj Hospital from October 2004 to April 2007 who received 6 months of bosentan treatment. Inclusion criteria are: CHD with Eisenmenger physiology (EP) or those with severe PAH after surgical repair or interventional cardiac catheterization. Clinical characteristics including the 6-- minute walk test (6MWT) distances, oxygen saturation (O2 sat), New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, and right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) at baseline were compared with those at 1, 3, and 6 months post bosentan treatment. Signs and symptoms of adverse events were also recorded. RESULTS: There were 11 patients from among those who fitted the inclusion criteria and whose records were examined. Their average age was 51.1 +/- 10.1 years old (13-61 years old). Patients were divided into 2 groups; Group A (6 patients) was PAH with EP and Group B (5 patients) was PAH post intervention. In group A, the 6MWT increased from 151 +/- 69 meters to 293 +/- 61 meters (p = 0.001) with the average increase of 38 +/- 61 meters. The 2O sat increased from 83 +/- 12.7% to 91.8 +/- 5.6% (p = 0.038) with an average increase of 1.4 +/- 0.07%. There was no significant change in right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP). In group B, there was a trend in 6MWT improvement from 274 +/- 69 meters to 312 +/- 38 meters but this was not statistically different. There were improvements in the NYHA functional class in both groups. There was no significant increase in serum aminotransferase at the end of 6 months in each patient. CONCLUSION: There are benefits of bosentan for treatment of severe PAH in CHD, especially in patients with Eisenmenger physiology. Obvious benefits are an improvement of 6MWT and O2 sat.

Epidemiologic study of Kawasaki disease and cases resistant to IVIG therapy in Thailand.

The incidence of Kawasaki disease (KD) in Thailand has never been studied before. We reviewed the data from the National Registry of Thai Children who had KD between 1998-2002 to evaluate the incidence of KD and cases resistant to treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Resistance to IVIG was defined as remaining febrile at least 48 hours after initial IVIG therapy. There were 710 KD patients in the registry. The incidence of KD was from 2.14 to 3.43 cases per 100,000 children aged 0-5 years. During the acute phase 15.6% of 435 patients were considered as resistant cases. Resistant cases of KD in Thai children are quite common (15.6%) even after IVIG treatment. We found that patients who had high white blood cell counts (> 16,500 cells/mm3) had a higher likelihood of being resistant.

Coronary artery bypass graft in Kawasaki disease patients: Siriraj experience.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis. It is one of the most common acquired heart diseases in children. Its important acute complication is coronary artery aneurysm. Although most of these aneurysms resolved overtime but some never did. Coronary artery stenosis and myocardial insufficiency or infarction are late complications. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and catheter intervention are the treatment for these patients. We report our first five cases of Kawasaki patients with myocardial insufficiency who underwent CABG at Siriraj Hospital. Patients' ages ranged from 3.3 to 14.4 years old. Only two patients (40%) had angina. Internal thoracic artery was used as a bypass graft in most patients and postoperative course was uneventful. Coronary bypass operation is a safe and reliable surgical modality for coronary artery sequelae in children with Kawasaki disease. A long-term follow-up is necessary to study the long-term outcome of bypass.

Permanent cardiac pacing in pediatrics: experience in Thailand.

Permanent cardiac pacing in pediatrics is uncommon. There has been limited data in Thailand. A retrospective study of cardiac data and pacing parameters during follow-up periods in patients who underwent permanent pacemaker implantation at the Department of Pediatrics, Siriraj Hospital, from January 1997 to December 2004 was conducted. There were 31 patients in total who have been followed-up for the median period of 34.4 (1.07-91.13) months. All patients had atrio-ventricular block prior to implantation. The etiology were; post cardiac surgery 38.7%, maternal autoimmune diseases 19.4%, post radiofrequency ablation 3.2%, and unknown 38.7%. Twenty three cases (74.2%) were implanted by epicardial approach, and 18 (25.8% were implanted by endocardial approach. Modes of permanent pacemaker were WIR 45.2%, VVI 35.5%, and DDD 19.4%. Age and body sized of the patients using epicardial approach were significantly lower than endocardial approach. Minor complications occurred in 3 cases (9.6%) i.e. 2 with surgical wound infection, 1 with post pericardiotomy syndrome. Minimum energy threshold, sensitivity, and impedance at implantation and during follow up periods were not different statistically. There was significantly less in minimum energy threshold of endocardial lead than epicardial lead. Epicardial lead failure was found in 3 cases (11.5%) at the median time of 8.9 (7.9-62) months post implantation, but was not significant different from endocardial leads. Survival of epicardial leads were 82% at 8 years. Conclusion: Permanent pacemaker implantation in pediatrics was rare (4.4 cases/year). It was feasible in almost all body size and a rather safe procedure. There was no significant change in pacing parameters at the medium-term follow-up period for both epicardial and endocardial leads. Minimum energy threshold of epicardial lead was significantly higher than endocardial lead.

Combination therapy of prostacyclin for pulmonary hypertension in congenital heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a recognized complication of congenital heart disease. Despite differences in etiology and pathophysiology, successful therapy for idiopathic PAH may benefit in patients with congenital heart disease. We theorized that combination of oral and aerosolization prostacyclin will benefit this group of patients in long-term. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study design was single group and open label study with intention to treat for patients with congenital heart disease with pulmonary artery (PA pressure) more than 50% of systemic pressure. All patients were given a combination of orally given beraprost sodium and inhalation of iloprost for 12 months. Data were collected prospectively consisting of functional class, O2 saturation, 6-minute walk test and right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP). RESULTS: There were 23 patients with an average right ventricular systolic pressure (+/- SD) of 94.8 +/- 14.5 mmHg and with average age of 27.8 +/- 14.9 years (2.5 to 50 years). The average oxygen saturation was 87.9 +/- 7 %. There were 12 patients with post surgical repair or cardiac catheterization interventional procedure and 11 with and Eisenmenger's syndrome. There were significant improvement of 6-minute-walk test from an average of 268 +/- 70 meters to 308 +/- 57 meters at the end of 12 months. The functional class of patients was also improving. However, there were no significant different in oxygen saturation. CONCLUSION: Combination therapy of oral and inhalation of aerosolized vasodilators is a fascinating concept in the therapy of pulmonary hypertension. Treated patients showed an improvement in exercise capacity and right ventricular systolic pressure without a worsening in oxygen saturation.

Heart murmur in the first week of life: Siriraj Hospital.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common form of cardiovascular diseases in children. In Thailand, there has not been available information about congenital heart disease in neonates. Between January 1st and December 31st, 2000, all full-term babies born at Siriraj Hospital with detected heart murmur within the first week of life were consulted to pediatric cardiologists. Echocardiography was performed for diagnosis in every baby. Total livebirths during that period were 11,245 cases. Heart murmurs were detected in 83 cases. The incidence of heart murmur within the first week of life was 7.38:1,000 livebirths. Innocent murmurs were found in 34 cases and echocardiogram revealed no detectable cardiac anomalies (2 cases), mild tricuspid regurgitation (2 cases), physiologic branch pulmonary stenosis (4 cases), and small size PDA (< 2 mm., 26 cases). Forty-nine cases had CHDs. The incidence of CHD was 4.36:1,000 livebirths. At the time of initial diagnosis, 22 cases (44.8%) were asymptomatic. Among these patients, 1 case had serious cardiac anomaly, i.e., tetralogy of Fallot. There were 27 cases with symptoms, including 15 cases (30.6%) with tachypnea, 8 cases (16.4%) with cyanosis and 4 cases (8.2%) with congestive heart failure. The 3 most common cardiac diseases were ventricular septal defect (9 cases, 18.4%), patent ductus arteriosus greater than 2 mm. (8 cases, 16.3%), and atrial septal defect (8 cases, 16.3%). Those with CHDs were treated with anticongestive medications (22 cases, 44.8%), prostaglandin E1 (5 cases, 10.2%), laser pulmonary vulvulotomy (1 case, 2%), palliative surgery within the first week of life (4 cases, 8.2%) and corrective surgery (4 cases, 8.2%). During follow-up for the period of 1 year, 2 cases died from sepsis. Early diagnosis and proper management are important to reduce morbidity and mortality in the newborn with CHD.

Balloon expandable stents for coarctation of the aorta: current status and technical considerations: case report.

BACKGROUND: Balloon expandable stents have been used to manage coarctation of the aorta (Co) in selected patients with very encouraging results. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The authors report here the first group of patients with Co who underwent a successful implantation of the new Palmaz Genesis stent with intermediate term follow up. RESULTS: There were 5 patients with an age range from 14 to 23 years old. All of them had significant Co and were receiving multiple anti-hypertensive medications. Primary stenting was performed in all patients. All of them had an immediate relief of the gradient. All antihypertensive medications were discontinued immediately in 4 patients. All patients had one year follow up which revealed a minimum gradient. One patient continues to receive oral antihypertensive medication. CONCLUSION: In patients with coarctation of the aorta (native or recoarctation of aorta), stent implantation may be a feasible and improved option to relieve the stenosis. Short and mid term followup of these patients have shown encouraging results.

Kawasaki disease in central area of Northeast Thailand.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a leading cause of acquired heart disease of childhood. The authors retrospectively reviewed cases of KD in major referral centers of central Northeast Thailand from July 1991 to June 2003. Seventy-three episodes occurring in 72 patients were diagnosed with KD by the American Heart Association criteria with a mean age of presentation of 27 +/- 19 months. The annual incidence was 2.2 per 100,000 children < 5 years of age. Coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) were found in 15 (20.5%) children. Nine patients (18%) who were diagnosed before 10 days were not treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Two (13%) of the 15 patients still had coronary lesions at the end of the follow-up period of 35.5 +/- 13.4 months. Index of suspicious should be maintained in children who had clinical signs of KD for early diagnosis and prompt treatment with IVIG.

Transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect with immediate follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Surgical closure of membranous ventricular septal defect (VSD) is performed by open heart surgery with a small but significant morbidity and mortality. The authors reported here the first group of patients who underwent transcatheter closure of membranous VSD. METHOD: Patients who had membranous VSD with significant left to right shunt as shown by echocardiogram were selected for closure. A standard right and left heart catheterization was done under general anesthesia. A complete arteriovenous wire loop from the aorta to the left ventricle and VSD out into right ventricle was formed in order to guide the delivery sheath into the VSD from the right ventricle. The authors used the new Amplatzer Membranous VSD Occluder (AGA Medical Corp., USA) to deploy in the VSD position. RESULTS: There were 4 patients in the present study with age range of 2 to 24 years old (median: 4 years old). Their weight ranged from 10 to 45 kg (median: 12 kg). Qp:Qs ranged from 1.7-2.5 to 1. The device diameter selected was from 6 to 10 mm. All of them were placed without any residual shunt. At one month follow-up all the patients had echocardiographic examination which showed no evidence of residual shunt. CONCLUSIONS: The authors demonstrated that transcatheter closure of membranous VSD could be safely and effectively performed in small children. This device also provided an opportunity for closure of VSD in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Balloon-expandable stenting, percutaneous coil embolization, and amplatzer septal occluder; treatments after complicated lateral tunnel Fontan: a case report.

The authors report a 7-year-old girl with univentricular heart physiology who developed prolonged pleural effusion due to discrete narrowing of the proximal right pulmonary artery, and progressive cyanosis which resulted from leakage of the atrial baffle, multiple veno-venous collaterals after the lateral tunnel Fontan operation. Percutaneous balloon-expandable stent implantation was used to correct the right pulmonary artery stenosis with an excellent result. Cyanosis was improved by coil embolization of the collaterals and occlusion of the baffle leakage with Amplatzer septal occluder. This is the first successful report in Thailand.

Early detection of cardiac involvement in beta-thalassemia children.

BACKGROUND: Beta-thalassemia major and beta-thalassemia/HbE are the important causes of chronic hemolytic anemia in Thailand. The objectives of the study were to determine variables associated with cardiac involvement in asymptomatic beta-thalassemia patients. PATIENTS AND METHOD: The authors studied beta-thalassemia major and beta-thalassemia/HbE patients who came to the clinic between July 1st 1999 and July 31st 2000. There were 211 asymptomatic patients included in study. Their ages ranged from 2.6 to 18.2 years. Previous clinical history including blood transfusion and iron chelation were recorded. All patients received a thorough physical examination, chest X-ray, electrocardiogram and echocardiogram. Patients who had abnormal systolic or diastolic function detected by echocardiogram were identified as having cardiac involvement. RESULTS: Cardiac involvement was found in 26 patients (12.3%). There was no difference in physical examination between patients who had and did not have cardiac involvement. Abnormal chest X-Ray defined as cardiothoracic (CT) ratio>0.55 and electrocardiogram (ECG) findings of left or right ventricular hypertrophy were associated with cardiac involvement. Other associated findings were older age and lower average pretransfusion hematocrit (23 +/- 6.6%). CONCLUSIONS: In asymptomatic beta-thalassemia children, chest X-ray and ECG should be used for screening patients for the detection of cardiac involvement.

Prenatal diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.

Fetal echocardiography is a safe means to obtain reliable anatomical and hemodynamic data of the fetal heart. The procedure is essential for prenatal diagnosis of cardiovascular abnormalities. In addition, fetal echocardiography is useful to follow-up the progression, monitoring during treatment and making a plan of treatment especially in life-threatening cardiac conditions. The objective of this study was to find the distribution of indications for fetal echocardiography, fetal cardiac anomalies detected, outcome of the fetuses and to assess the accuracy of the procedure. A retrospective study was done at Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Pregnant women whose fetuses had prenatal echocardiographic data and gave birth from January 1999 to December 2001 were included. The total number of pregnant women was 54 cases. The indications for fetal echocardiography were suspicion of fetal cardiovascular disease by the obstetrician 42.6 per cent, family history of congenital heart diseases 14.8 per cent, multiple organ system anomalies 14.8 per cent, chromosomal anomalies 11.1 per cent, hydrops fetalis 9.3 per cent, maternal systemic diseases 5.6 per cent and previous pregnancy with a dead fetus in utero 1.9 per cent. The gestational age at the time of the first fetal echocardiography ranged from 17 to 39 weeks (median 28 weeks). The number of fetal echocardiography done in each case ranged from 1 to 10 (median 1.4). Prenatal diagnosis of the abnormal cardiovascular system in fetuses was found in 19 cases (35.2%). There were abnormal cardiac anatomies in 42 per cent, cardiac tumors or abnormal masses in 37 per cent and rhythm disturbances in 21 per cent. When compared with postnatal echocardiography and/or autopsy finding, fetal echocardiography had a sensitivity of 100 per cent, specificity of 96.3 per cent and accuracy of 97.8 per cent. Conclusion: Fetal echocardiography has good accuracy in the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. Obstetrician's suspicion is important in the prenatal diagnosis of heart disease that would have affected the short and long-term outcome of the fetus.

Transcatheter coil occlusion of small patent ductus arteriosus: experience at Siriraj Hospital.

Transcatheter coil occlusion of small-to-moderate-size patent ductus arteriosus (PDA, < 3.5 mm) is well established as a procedure of first choice in many institutions. Its much lower cost compared with surgical ligation or other devices makes it an attractive option, especially in Thailand. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Between September 1995 and June 2000, all patients diagnosed with PDA with audible murmur and echo-Doppler confirmation of diameter less than 3.5 mm were scheduled for transcatheter coil occlusion at the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital. The hemodynamic studies were obtained both pre and post occlusion. The immediate and late outcome, including complication were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 77 cases, 78 procedures of transcatheter PDA coil occlusion were performed. Seventy cases (90.9%), comprised of 19 males (27.1%) and 51 females (72.9%) were successfully deployed with coils. The remainder were unsuccessfully deployed and later referred to surgery. The median age of the successful group was 6 years and 6 months and median weight was 16.5 kg. Twenty cases (28.6%) had other associated intra and extracardiac anomalies. All patients were asymptomatic, except one case having bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) from prolonged ventilation. Single-coil occlusions were performed in 74.3 per cent and double-coil occlusions in 25.7 per cent. Conventional 0.038-inch Gianturco coils were deployed in 86.5 per cent. The mean procedure time was 78.1 +/- 35.1 minutes. The mean fluoroscopic time was 20.2 +/- 15.6 minutes. The total complete occlusion rate was 87.7 per cent. Tiny residual flow of PDA was demonstrated by follow-up echocardiogram in 12.3 per cent. Seven per cent of the patients were lost to follow-up. There was no significant difference in PDA size and hemodynamics between the groups of patients with complete occlusion and having residual shunt. Minor complications occurred in 12.9 per cent, including mild left pulmonary artery stenosis (10%), coil embolization to distal pulmonary artery (8.6%), slippage of catheter with coil (2.9%) and decreased dorsalis pedis pulse (1.4%). One late death was found in a BPD patient from pneumonia 2 months after the procedure. CONCLUSION: Transcatheter coil occlusion of PDA is as effective, feasible, safe and less costly than surgical ligation. With improvement in technique and device selection and appropriate case selection, there should be an increase rate of complete occlusion and a decrease in complications.

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging of atrial septal defect for transcatheter closure.

BACKGROUND: The location, size of the defect and age of the patient are the major determining factors for transcatheter closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD). The precise shape and anatomy surrounding the defect cannot always be understood by the traditional transesophageal (TEE) echocardiographic technique. OBJECTIVES: The authors compared the measurement of ASD size and atrial septal rim using cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and TEE to the balloon sizing technique and device size. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Patients having an ASD which met established criteria were selected for evaluation with cardiac MRI and TEE for a closure procedure. Comparison of the ASD imaging and sizing between the different methods was made. RESULTS: There were 22 patients who had complete transcatheter closure. The mean age and standard deviation of the patients was 33.2+/-15.1 (8-67) years old. The mean weight of the patients was 51.6+/-13.1 (20-99) kg. The average cardiac MRI measurement of the ASD was 24.9+/-6.4 mm compared to the TEE measurement of 20.8+/-5.5 mm. The transcatheter balloon measurement of the ASD was 25.2+/-6.9 (11-36) mm and the device closure size was 24.8+/-6.6 (11-36) mm. The correlation coefficient of cardiac MRI to device closure size was r = 0.784 (p < 0.001) when compared to TEE measurement to device closure size; r = 0.761 (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The authors demonstrated the capability of the cardiac MRI in assessment of the ASD morphology and anatomy for transcatheter closure of the ASD with an Amplatzer Septal Occluder. Cardiac MRI can provide information about the type, location, size of the defect and direct visualization of the atrial septum anatomy. This detailed information enabled us to provide a safer, more effective application of the ASD occluder.