Optimal follow-up in adult patients with congenital heart disease and chronic pulmonary regurgitation: towards tailored use of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary regurgitation (PR) is a common complication of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) reconstruction and leads to right ventricular (RV) dilatation and dysfunction. Although cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the gold standard for evaluating PR and RV dysfunction, cost and limited availability are problems in many centres.

AIMS: To determine clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic predictors of these complications and optimize patient selection for their short-term follow-up by CMR.

METHODS: Ninety-four patients with a history of RVOT repair were prospectively included. All patients had a clinical examination, electrocardiography, echocardiography and CMR.

RESULTS: QRS duration, indexed end-diastolic RV (EDRV) diameter and area on echocardiography were significantly associated with RV dilatation on CMR (P<0.001). The distal localization of Doppler PR flow was the strongest echocardiographic criterion associated with severe PR (P<0.001). Arrhythmia history and high Tei index were significantly associated with low RV ejection fraction (P<0.001 and P=0.017, respectively). In multivariable analysis, grade of PR, QRS duration, arrhythmia and valvulotomy were strongly associated with severe PR and RV dilatation or systolic RV dysfunction. From these results, an approach based on a scaled scoring system for selecting patients who need short-term CMR evaluation and close follow-up was evaluated. This method should avoid 31% of CMR examinations, with a sensitivity of 97.7%.

CONCLUSION: Clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic criteria can be used to accurately evaluate patients with RVOT repair. The combination of such features facilitates identification of patients who do or do not require close CMR evaluation.