Aims: Superior sinus venosus atrial septal defect (SVASD) is commonly associated with partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage (PAPVD). We aimed to describe the first series of percutaneous SVASD and PAPVD correction using a two-step simulation for procedural planning.Methods and results: Patients with SVASD and right PAPVD with a clinical indication for correction were selected. They underwent an ex vivo procedural simulation on a 3D-printed model followed by an in vivo simulation using balloon inflation in the targeted stent landing zone. The percutaneous procedure consisted in deploying a 10-zig custom-made covered stent in the SVC-RA junction. Five patients were referred for preprocedural evaluation and were deemed suitable for percutaneous correction. The procedure was successful in all patients with no residual interatrial shunt and successful redirection of the pulmonary venous drainage to the left atrium. At a median clinical follow-up of 8.1 months (2.6-19.8), no adverse events were noted, and all patients showed clinical improvement. During follow-up, transthoracic echocardiography and multidetector cardiac tomography in four patients or invasive angiography in one patient demonstrated a patent SVC stent, and no residual SVASD and unobstructed PV drainage in all patients. Conclusions:In selected patients using a two-stage simulation strategy, percutaneous correction of SVASD with PAPVD is feasible and safe, and led to favourable short-term outcomes.

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BackgroundCardiac catheterization is a common procedure in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Although cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) represents a promising alternative approach to fluoroscopy guidance, simultaneous high contrast visualization of catheter, soft tissue and the blood pool remains challenging. In this study, a novel passive tracking technique is proposed for enhanced positive contrast visualization of gadolinium-filled balloon catheters using partial saturation (pSAT) magnetization preparation.MethodsThe proposed pSAT sequence uses a single shot acquisition with balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) readout preceded by a partial saturation pre-pulse. This technique was initially evaluated in five healthy subjects. The pSAT sequence was compared to conventional bSSFP images acquired with (SAT) and without (Non-SAT) saturation pre-pulse. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the catheter balloon, blood and myocardium and the corresponding contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) are reported. Subjective assessment of image suitability for CMR-guidance and ideal pSAT angle was performed by three cardiologists. The feasibility of the pSAT sequence is demonstrated in two adult patients undergoing CMR-guided cardiac catheterization.ResultsThe proposed pSAT approach provided better catheter balloon/blood contrast and catheter balloon/myocardium contrast than conventional Non-SAT sequences. It also resulted in better blood and myocardium SNR than SAT sequences. When averaged over all volunteers, images acquired with a pSAT angle of 20° to 40° enabled simultaneous visualization of the catheter balloon and the cardiovascular anatomy (blood and myocardium) and were found suitable for CMR-guidance in >93% of cases. The pSAT sequence was successfully used in two patients undergoing CMR-guided diagnostic cardiac catheterization.ConclusionsThe proposed pSAT sequence offers real-time, simultaneous, enhanced contrast visualization of the catheter balloon, soft tissues and blood. This technique provides improved passive tracking capabilities during CMR-guided catheterization in patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12968-017-0368-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.