Right and Left Heart Biplane Cine-angiocardiography.

Technological progress in the design and construction of image intensifiers has been so rapid since their introduction by Teves (1955) and Feddema (1955) that they are already in daily use for many types of radiological examination. Though much of the pioneer work in this field was angiocardiographic (Lind, Wegelius, and Lichtenstein, 1954; Lind, Wegelius, and Boesen, 1955; Lind, Rocha, and Wegelius, 1957; Stauffer et al., 1955; Astley, 1955, 1956; Pickard and Watson, 1957; Watson et al., 1958), there were certain disadvantages associated with the use of the early intensifiers for this type of investigation. The 5-inch field, for example, placed considerable limitation on their usefulness, and this, coupled with the fact that it was only possible to film in one plane, meant that the procedure had to be carefully planned not only to decide which part of the heart was to be visualized but also how best to position the patient to ensure that its opacification would be seen to the best possible advantage. Despite the difficulties, cine-photography of the intensified image has already revolutionized the visualization of the opacified heart and contributed greatly not only to our understanding of valvular action but also to our knowledge of the intracardiac circulation in congenital heart disease. The field size of intensifiers has been increased during the past few years and a much larger image can now be obtained. The definition of detail has been greatly improved and the recent addition of closed circuit television allows the clearer pictures to be much more easily seen. The object of this paper is to present a preliminary communication on our experience of simultaneous biplane cine-angiocardiography using two 9-inch Philips image intensifiers.