Abstract
Scanning suprasternal echocardiography was performed in 280 patients with a variety of cardiac anomalies. By using the special suprasternal transducer on the suprasternal notch, the aortic arch, right pulmonary artery, and left atrium were recorded superoinferiorly. From this reference position various scanning techniques were made to record the main pulmonary artery, pulmonary valve, ascending aorta, aortic valve, and distal aortic arch, wherever possible. These scans made it possible to assess (a) the integrity and size of right pulmonary artery and main pulmonary artery in pulmonary atresia, stenosis of origin of right pulmonary artery, pulmonary artery banding, kinked Waterston anastomosis, and aneurysm of pulmonary artery; (b) relative positions of aortic valve and pulmonary valve in malposition complexes; (c) the position and size of the aortic arch in tetralogy of Fallot and aortic coarctation. Measurements of the left atrium made by suprasternal echocardiography were consistently larger than those made by praecordial echocardiography. Changes in relative sizes of aortic arch, right pulmonary artery, main pulmonary artery, and left atrium were also documented in the various cardiac anomalies. The atrial baffle after Mustard repair for d-transposition of the great arteries and the atrial membrane in cor triatriatum were also demonstrated. The introduction of scanning techniques has thus widened the scope of suprasternal echocardiography.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Allen H. D., Goldberg S. J., Sahn D. J., Ovitt T. W., Goldberg B. B. Suprasternal notch echocardiography. Assessment of its clinical utility in pediatric cardiology. Circulation. 1977 Apr;55(4):605–612. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.55.4.605. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldberg B. B. Suprasternal ultrasonography. JAMA. 1971 Jan 11;215(2):245–250. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mortera C., Hunter S., Tynan M. Diagnosis of ventriculo-arterial discordance (transposition of the great arteries) by contrast echocardiography. Br Heart J. 1977 Aug;39(8):844–846. doi: 10.1136/hrt.39.8.844. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Petsas A. A., Gottlieb S., Kingsley B., Segal B. L., Myerburg R. J. Echocardiographic diagnosis of left atrial myxoma. Usefulness of suprasternal approach. Br Heart J. 1976 Jun;38(6):627–632. doi: 10.1136/hrt.38.6.627. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]