ABSTRACT
During the past several years the cardiac catheterization laboratory has evolved from a primarily diagnostic venue into a setting in which cardiac therapy is provided to patients with a large variety of congenital cardiac malformations. To some extent, the decreased number of diagnostic procedures is related to the availability of alternate means of assessing cardiac anatomy and physiology, including echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging. Echocardiography has also evolved as a technique for providing an imaging modality that is, at once, complementary to angiography and fluoroscopic imaging, while providing unique imaging that allows radiolucent structures such as the atrial and ventricular septum and intracardiac valves to be imaged. Such images may be critical for the assessment of the candidacy of patients who are referred for transcatheter treatment of atrial or ventricular septal defects, and may also be used to monitor the placement of devices for the closure of these defects.
