Applications of diagnostic ultrasound and radionuclides to cardiovascular diagnosis. Part II. Cardiovascular disease in the young.

Echocardiography (ECHO) and radionuclide cardiography have had a significant impact on pediatric cardiology because they have proved to be sensitive enough to permit early diagnosis of many forms of heart disease and in some cases to estimate its severity and to provide information concerning ventricular performance. An overview of the anatomic and functional information that can be obtained from these two methods will be presented first, followed by details concerning the indications for their use and their relative clinical value in various acquired and congenital heart diseases. We have stressed particularly those facets of pediatric cardiac disease that differ most from those in the adult.