Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)



Editors-in-Chief: Eli V. Gelfand, MD and Keri Shafer, MD (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA)

Patent Ductus Arteriosus
"The Patent Ductus Arteriosus or PDA, is a remnant of the distal sixth aortic arch and connects the pulmonary artery at the junction of the main pulmonary artery and the origin of the left pulmonary artery to the proximal descending aorta just after the origin of the left subclavian artery.

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a congenital heart defect when a child's ductus arteriosus fails to close after birth, producing a heart murmur described in 1898 by Gibson as the classic machinery murmur." from Wikidoc article:Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Echocardiographic techniques in PDA
In the adult, doppler can be used to visualize the shunt from the aorta to the left pulmonary artery. PDAs can be seen on:
 * Suprasternal view
 * High pasasternal short-axis view: aim probe leftward/superior


 * Transesophageal echocardiogram is often needed in adults to accurately visualize a PDA

Echo functions in PDA

 * Estimate the magnitude of the shunt
 * Degree of left ventricular and left atrial dilation
 * Calculation of the peak pressure gradient in the PDA can be calculated with the modified Bernoulli equation
 * associated anomalities



Useful Links
Yale Congenital Heart Disease- PDA