Venoatrial pathways after the mustard operation for transposition of the great arteries: Anatomic and functional MR imaging

PURPOSE: To evaluate spin-echo (SE) and cine gradient-echo (GRE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with velocity mapping for detecting late complications of the Mustard operation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients were studied with MR imaging 1-22 years after undergoing the Mustard operation. Twenty were also studied with transthoracic echocardiography, 18 with angiocardiography, and five with transesophageal echocardiography. RESULTS: MR imaging showed no venoatrial obstruction in nine patients. This result was confirmed with angiocardiography in seven cases and postmortem examination in one case. In one case, MR imaging demonstrated a leak at the baffle suture line. Of 12 cases with venoatrial obstruction at MR imaging, nine were confirmed with angiocardiography or surgery. There were two false-positive MR studies and one case in which no conclusion was reached. CONCLUSION: With addition of cine GRE sequences and velocity mapping to SE sequences, MR imaging is a useful noninvasive method of investigating late complications of the Mustard operation.