Cardiac CT and MRI of cardiac malformations: How to interpret them?

A segmental sequential approach is widely used for the description of congenital heart disease abnormalities in routine reports of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging examinations. This consists of three stages as follows: (a) the anatomical description of each segment (viscero-atrial situs, the bulboventricular loop and the position of the great vessels); (b) the relationship between each segment at the atrioventricular and ventriculoarterial levels; and (c) related intra- and intersegmental abnormalities. This article describes the interpretation of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging examinations in patients with cardiac malformations using a structured plan.