New WellChild Research Projects 2008/9

MRI Diagnosis in children with Congenital Heart Disease

Dr Reza Razavi and Dr Gerald Greil, Evelina Children’s Hospital

Treatment of children with congenital heart problems has been revolutionised in the past 30 years. The majority of these children can now be cured or have a better quality of life  with good medium to long term results. Great innovations have been achieved in the non-invasive diagnosis and preoperative planning of these children with new techniques using ultrasound and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). There have also been major leaps forward in treatment with new and improved surgical techniques and the ability to perform some of the surgical procedures using keyhole cardiac catheterisation.

Despite the great advances during the past few decades, some patients with complex congenital heart disease need lifetime care and supervision. As more patients with complex congenital heart disease survive early childhood, problems such as irregular heart rhythm, vessel narrowing and decreased heart function are becoming increasingly important. The major problem now is that some of these patients are not surviving past their teenage years. Therefore, there is a need to translate the very good short term results to good long term results so that these children are able to have a good quality near normal lifespan. To this end patient friendly non-invasive methods for better diagnosis and treatment are and will be the focus for our research over the next 30 years.

High resolution 3D MRI imaging enables the reproduction of virtual and real 3D models of the heart and great vessels. Those models can be used for teaching and research. Using different materials real reproductions of complex congenital heart disease can be used for improved preoperative planning.