Utility of Feed-and-Sleep Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Young Infants with Complex Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Utilization of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is limited in young children because of the need for sedation or general anesthesia (GA). It has been previously shown that CMR can be performed without sedation or GA in young infants who are prone to fall asleep after being fed and swaddled. The purpose of this study was to prospectively prove the feasibility of the feed-and-sleep CMR technique in larger cohorts in the two institutions where the technique was initially developed. This was a prospective dual-center cohort study over a two-year period. All infants younger than 6 months old with complex congenital cardiovascular anomaly who required CMR were recruited for this study. The exclusion criteria included mechanical ventilation, oxygen dependence, feeding difficulties, and any contraindication to CMR. The feed-and-sleep study was performed by fasting the infant for a period of 4 h prior to the scan, placing the infant in a vacuum immobilizer, and feeding the infant just prior to the CMR. The CMR sequences were prioritized to target the area of most importance first. A study was considered complete and diagnostic if the clinical question was answered. A total of 60 infants (39 from center A and 21 from center B) were recruited for this study, 32 male and 28 female, ages ranging from 1 to 177 days (50 ± 54). The CMR studies were diagnostic and answered the clinical questions in all patients. All infants tolerated the procedure well, and no complications were noted in any of the patients. The CMR duration ranged between 4–132 minutes (45 ± 21). The feed-and-sleep approach in selected patients obviates the need of sedation or GA for CMR in infants younger than 6 months old. Therefore, CMR can be utilized whenever echocardiography fails to provide the complete information required for the patients’ management.