Imaging after the arterial switch for transposition of the great arteries

MRI · CT

First and second year — the floor first, then every step

After the arterial switch the pulmonary arteries drape over the aorta (Lecompte); follow-up looks for branch pulmonary artery stenosis, neo-aortic root dilatation and regurgitation, and coronary ostial stenosis.

Orient first

  • D-TGA: aorta from the RV, pulmonary artery from the LV; corrected by arterial switch with coronary transfer.
  • Older patients may have had an atrial switch (Mustard/Senning): systemic RV and baffle problems.
  • Congenitally corrected TGA (L-TGA) has a systemic RV without surgery.

Acquire the study

  • Cine short-axis and long axes, 3D contrast-enhanced MRA, phase-contrast flow, LGE.

The manoeuvre

  • 3D MRA: branch pulmonary artery calibre in mm; stenosis as they drape over the aorta.
  • Phase-contrast: differential flow to right and left lungs in %.
  • Neo-aortic root diameter in mm at the sinuses; neo-aortic regurgitant fraction.
  • LV function and LGE (perfusion defects from coronary problems).

What confirms it

  • Anatomy and function documented against the operative history.

What licenses you to exclude it

  • Normal branch PAs, neo-aorta and coronaries exclude the main late complications.

The classic misread

  • Missing an atrial-switch baffle leak because the operation history was not known.

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