Atrial septal defect advantages of echocardiography


 * Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Priyamvada Singh, M.B.B.S. [mailto:psingh@perfuse.org]; Assistant Editor(s)-In-Chief: Kristin Feeney, B.S. [mailto:kfeeney@perfuse.org]

Overview
Echocardiography is one of the preferred modalities for diagnosing congenital heart defects including atrial septal defects. It provides with information that helps to do accurate diagnosis of the type of atrial septal defect along with any associated anomalies. Also, it helps in making therapeutics decisions about the condition.

Advantages
Echocardiography can provide:
 * Direct visualization of the defect in a subcostal 2-dimension view
 * A visualization, when right ventricular volume overload is present, of:
 * Pulmonary arterial dilatation
 * Right ventricular dilatation
 * Anterior systolic/paradoxic septal motion


 * Imaging of an associated anomalies.
 * Identify associated anomalies
 * Evaluate atrial enlargement
 * Evaluate ventricular enlargement
 * Locate and size of defects


 * Doppler flowechocardiography can identify:
 * Shunt ratios
 * Shunt volume
 * Direction of shunt
 * Pulmonary artery pressure

If the individual has adequate echocardiographic windows, it is possible to use the echocardiogram to measure the cardiac output of the left ventricle and the right ventricle independently. In this way, it is possible to estimate the shunt fraction using echocardiography.