In addition, a new form of cardiac ultrasound called transesophageal echocardiography has come to play an important role in pediatric cardiac surgery in the past few years. Most often, this test is done in the operating room during open-heart surgery. With this test, the ECHO microphone is passed down the child's esophagus, giving the pediatric cardiologist a finely detailed image of the heart without interfering or contaminating the surgical field. This test provides immediate feedback to the pediatric cardiac surgeon to help ensure the heart defect has been corrected completely before the child leaves the operating room. In 1999, more than 250 transesophageal ECHO studies were performed during congenital heart disease surgery at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.
Fetal echocardiography is an ultrasound of a baby's heart before the baby is born.
The mother's abdomen is scanned with a special microphone and gel similar to a routine prenatal ultrasound. Since this study uses sound waves to generate images of the fetus' heart, the test is painless and risk-free for both the mother and baby. Under the direction of pediatric cardiologist Michele Frommelt, MD , nearly all forms of congenital heart disease now can be diagnosed by 16 to 18 weeks gestation. Thanks to early diagnosis, medical therapy may be suggested to treat some forms of heart disease in the fetus. For other forms of heart disease, delivery can be planned at a center where cardiac care immediately is available.