Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography of thoracic aortic coarctation in pediatric patients: Pre-operative evaluation

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of 64-slice multidetector computed tomographic (MDCT) angiography in pre-operative assessment of coarctation of thoracic aorta of pediatric age groups using 64 multislice CT scanner. Materials and methods: Twenty four patients with clinical suspicion of coarctation of the thoracic aortic anomalies who underwent both Doppler echocardiography and MDCT angiography were included in the study. MDCT angiography findings were compared with both Doppler echocardiography and surgical results. Results: The overall sensitivity of the MDCT angiography for diagnosis of the extra-cardiac aortic anomalies was 100% which was higher than that of Doppler echocardiography (92%). The overall sensitivity of MDCT angiography for the assessment of cardiac defects was 85% which was lower than that of Doppler echocardiography (100%). Conclusion: We concluded that MDCT angiography with multiplanar and three dimensional techniques can be considered the modality of choice for pre- operative assessment of coarctation of the thoracic aorta in pediatric patients. (C) 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.