Data from: Diagnostic value of transthoracic echocardiography in patients with coarctation of aorta: the Chinese experience in 53 patients studied between 2008 and 2012 in one major medical center

Although aortography is well known as the “gold standard” for the diagnosis of coarctation of aorta (CoA), the method is invasive, expensive and not readily accepted by some patients. Ultrasound diagnosis for CoA is non-invasive, inexpensive, readily accepted by every patient, and can be repeated as frequently as necessary. The purpose of this presentation is to evaluate the applicability of transthoracic echocardiography for the diagnosis of CoA. The echocardiographic appearances of 53 patients with CoA who had undergone surgery during a 5-year period from January 2008 to October 2012 were analyzed retrospectively, and the results were compared with findings at surgery. Fifty-three patients with CoA include six with isolated CoA and 47 of CoA associated with other cardiac anomalies. Of the 53 operated patients, 48 were correctly diagnosed preoperatively by echocardiography, while two were misdiagnosed as interrupted aortic arch and the diagnosis were missed in three other patients. Thus the diagnostic accuracy rate was 90.6%, and the misdiagnosis rate was 9.4%. Preoperative echocardiographic evaluation offers very satisfactory anatomic assessment in most patients with CoA. It makes preoperative angiography unnecessary. Thus transthoracic echocardiography should be the first-line method for the diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta.

主动脉造影（aortography）是主动脉缩窄（coarctation of aorta, CoA）诊断的公认“金标准”，但该方法具有侵入性、成本高昂，且部分患者难以接受。针对主动脉缩窄的超声诊断无创、成本低廉，所有患者均易于接受，且可根据临床需求多次重复检查。本研究旨在评估经胸超声心动图（transthoracic echocardiography）用于主动脉缩窄诊断的适用性。研究回顾性分析了2008年1月至2012年10月这5年间收治的53例经手术确诊的主动脉缩窄患者的超声心动图表现，并将术前超声结果与手术探查结果进行对照。该53例患者中，6例为单纯性主动脉缩窄，剩余47例合并其他心脏畸形。在这53例手术患者中，48例术前经超声心动图得到正确诊断，2例被误诊为主动脉弓离断（interrupted aortic arch），另有3例漏诊。本次研究的诊断准确率为90.6%，误诊率为9.4%。术前超声心动图评估可对绝大多数主动脉缩窄患者实现令人满意的解剖结构评估，可免去术前主动脉造影检查。因此，经胸超声心动图应作为主动脉缩窄诊断的一线检查方法。