Extracardiac complications

Abstract

There are approximately one million adult patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) in the United States and the number is increasing. With increasing survival of repaired CHD, it is more common to see both the cardiac and extracardiac complications of surgical repair. Awareness of these common extracardiac findings will aid in making the appropriate diagnosis and may improve clinical management. Utilization of CT and MR can detect early changes in extracardiac organs. This chapter describes common extracardiac manifestations of congenital disease of the heart and reviews the CT and MR findings in this group of patients. Imaging examples of pulmonary, abdominal, neurological, and thromboembolic complications will be presented. Patients with surgical single-ventricle palliative physiology (Fontan circulation) present a unique spectrum of complications including restrictive lung function, plastic bronchitis, liver changes, thromboembolic disease, and protein-losing enteropathy. These complications will be emphasized.