Aim: To estimate the clinical impact of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with congenital cardiovascular disease (CCD).
Materials and methods: Since 2003, 1.5T CMR was used at our university hospital to evaluate morphology, cardiac kinetics, aortic and pulmonary flow, and vascular anatomy in patients with CCD. The present study considered a consecutive series of these patients from 2003 to 2006. A paediatric cardiologist judged our reports as expected or unexpected and, secondarily, as not reliable (level 0), describing findings already known (level 1), not changing therapy/suggested lifestyle (level 2), changing therapy/suggested lifestyle (level 3) or changing diagnosis (level 4).
Results: CMR reports were judged to be expected in 187/214 (87%) and unexpected in 27/214 (13%). Less than 2% of CMRs were judged as levels 0 or 1, 66% as level 2, and 5% as level 4. During 2005-2006 the clinical impact improved toward higher impact levels (p<0.001, chi-square test).
Conclusions: In patients with CCD, more than one in 10 CMR reports were unexpected to cardiologists and over seven in 10 prompted a change of diagnosis or therapy.
Copyright © 2011 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.