engleski

Importance of echocardiography in detection of complete atrioventricular canal in multipara

In this article we present a 35-year-old multipara with a complete atrioventricular canal. The mother of three healthy children was admitted to our hospital because of congestive heart failure. At the age of four she was diagnosed a haemodynamically insignificant ventricular septal defect (VSD) by cardiac catheterisation. Echocardiography was not disposable at that time. In our hospital transthoracic and transesophageal contrast echocardiography revealed enlarged all four chambers with hyperkinetic walls, ostium primum ASD and membranosus VSD measuring 2.7 cm, cleft mitral valve leaflet with severe regurgitation. Color Doppler imaging showed a left-to-right shunt at the ventricular level, left-to-right shunt at the level of left ventricle-right atrium and a straddling atrioventricular valve. By Doppler imaging right ventricular and pulmonary artery pressure of 30-40 mmHg and Qp/Qs 2-2, 5:1 were registered. A ventricular L-R shunt was observed by cardiac catheterisation. The patient was treated with beta-blocker, heparin, warfarin, athyrazol and benzodiazepines, dismissed in a good general state without signs of congestive heart failure and recommended a surgical intervention. In conclusion, the diagnosis of both morphological and hemodynamic heart defects was much improved by development of echocardiography in recent decades. Complete AV canal is a rare congenital heart defect which my become life-threatening in some extra-cardiac circumstances such as pregnancy, and fortunately not in this case. Congestive heart failure was provoked by hyperthyreosis.

Echocardiography ; Atrioventricular canal

nije evidentirano