Pediatric Ventricular Septal Defect

  • Etiology: types – outlet / supracrystal (5%) associated with truncus arteriosus + Tetralogy of Fallot, membranous (80%), inlet (5%) associated with AV canal, muscular (10%)
  • Complications: Long-term untreated VSD may lead to Eisenmenger physiology
  • Clinical: most common congenital heart disease, 33% resolve spontaneously, present in second month when pulmonary vascular resistance decreases and a shunt can develop so therefore most common cause of shunt vascularity in infants + children but not in neonates

Radiology Cases of Ventricular Septal Defect

Radiology Cases of Eisenmenger Syndrome Due to Ventricular Septal Defect

CXR of Eisenmenger syndrome due to ventricular septal defect / VSD
CXR AP at 4 years of age (above) shows mild prominence of the pulmonary arteries bilaterally. CXR AP at 24 years of age (below) shows marked enlargement of the pulmonary arteries bilaterally with peripheral pruning of the pulmonary vasculature.