[Evaluation by ultrasonography of the size of bilateral internal jugular vein in infants and young children with congenital heart disease].

UNLABELLED: Background: A great difference in size often exists between the right and left internal jugular vein (IJV) in neonates and infants with congenital heart disease. We examined laterality of size in bilateral IJV.

METHODS: We surveyed 31 cases with ventricular septal defect under 6 years of age. Using ultrasound, the transverse and longitudinal diameters and cross-sectional areas (CSA) of bilateral IJV were measured.

RESULTS: There were significant differences in the transverse diameter (right 0.73 ± 0.21 cm vs. left 0.62 ± 0.20 cm, P = 0012), the longitudinal diameter(right 0.51 ± 0.14 cm vs. left 0.42 ± 0.11 cm, P = 0.010) and the CSA (right 0.31 ± 0.16 cm2 vs. left 0.22 ± 0.13 cm2 P = 0.012). However, in some cases the right IJV was smaller than the left IJV.

CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to select the cannulation site after measuring the size of bilateral IJV for IJV cannulation in neonates and infants with congenital heart disease.