Chest radiography in congenital heart disease

Abstract

Chest radiography and its interpretation has become a lost art in the modern era of advanced imaging techniques despite the fact that it can confer unique and valuable information regarding the abdominal and cardiac situs, pulmonary vasculature, shunt vascularity, and size of the cardiac chambers. In this chapter, we will review the various patterns of the pulmonary vasculature best evaluated in plain chest X-ray and will focus on the salient points and specific patterns of chest X-ray in adult patients with congenital heart disease such as “rib notching” in aortic coarctation, “egg-on-side pattern” in transposition of the great arteries, “snowman sign” in total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, “scimitar sign” in partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection, “boot-shaped heart” in tetralogy of Fallot, and “water bottle” appearance in the Ebstein anomaly.