Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging in Pediatric Cardiology

About 13 in 1000 children are born with heart disease. Current tools poorly assess heart filling in children, limiting treatment. This study explores ultrafast ultrasound imaging to measure heart stiffness and perfusion in children with congenital heart disease.

About 13/1000 children are born with heart disease. As a result of better treatment, there is an increasing population of children surviving with congenital heart disease (CHD) as well as a growing number of children with obesity, hypertension and serious chronic diseases, such as cancer and kidney disease, who are at risk of developing heart disease. All of these diseases affect the heart muscle and one of the main mechanisms resulting in heart muscle damage is the development of scar tissue (fibrosis). Fibrosis makes the heart muscle stiffer and therefore more difficult to fill. The heart must fill properly with blood in order to function well; but it is very difficult to study the filling of the heart using current diagnostic tools. One of the main challenges in pediatric cardiology is that non-invasive diagnostic approaches used in adult patients to assess heart filling (diastolic function) have proven inadequate in children. This knowledge gap has limited therapeutic progress in this vulnerable population; and to date there is no effective therapy that improves the filling of the heart. The aim of this study is to explore new potential of ultrasound to assess diastolic function in CHD children. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging (UFUS), consisting of ultrasound images at a very high rate, is a new ultrasound approach to assess cardiac function. Using a Verasonics system (ultrasound open platform), we will assess the myocardial stiffness and the myocardial perfusion by UFUS.