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Congenital Heart Disease Flashcards

6 cards from real ARDMS ECHO practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 6 Congenital Heart Disease flashcards as text

  1. In coarctation of the aorta, which echocardiographic Doppler finding is characteristic?

    Answer: High-velocity turbulent systolic jet with persistent diastolic antegrade flow ('diastolic tail')

    Coarctation produces a high-velocity systolic jet with a persistent diastolic tail (diastolic runoff) in the descending aorta due to the pressure gradient.

  2. What is the echocardiographic hallmark of D-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA)?

    Answer: The aorta arises from the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery from the left ventricle

    In D-TGA, ventriculoarterial discordance exists: the aorta arises from the morphologic RV and the pulmonary artery from the morphologic LV.

  3. Which congenital lesion is associated with a 'double-bubble' appearance on subcostal echo due to bilateral ventricular inflow obstruction?

    Answer: Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD)

    Complete AVSD features a common AV valve and both atrial and ventricular septal defects, often creating a characteristic 'gooseneck' deformity of the LVOT.

  4. A bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is associated with which aortic complication requiring surveillance?

    Answer: Ascending aortic dilation and risk of dissection

    BAV is associated with aortopathy — medial degeneration predisposing to ascending aortic dilation, aneurysm, and dissection independent of valve function.

  5. In Eisenmenger syndrome, the shunt direction in an ASD or VSD reverses because:

    Answer: Pulmonary hypertension raises RV pressure to exceed LV pressure, reversing the gradient

    Eisenmenger syndrome occurs when pulmonary vascular resistance rises enough to reverse the shunt from right-to-left, causing cyanosis.

  6. What is the echocardiographic finding that distinguishes a primum ASD from a secundum ASD?

    Answer: Primum ASD is located in the inferior septum adjacent to the AV valves and is associated with a cleft mitral valve

    Primum ASDs are located low in the interatrial septum near the AV valves and are frequently associated with a cleft anterior mitral leaflet causing MR.