Ventricular Synchrony in Pediatric Patients

At Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, children who have irregular heart rhythms are often referred for evaluation. Sometimes they also need a procedure to correct their irregular heart rhythm. An echocardiogram is routinely used as part of their evaluation and follow-up. The echocardiogram including Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) works by bouncing sound waves off the heart similar to radar. A new echocardiogram technology, Tissue Synchronization Imaging (TSI), should help doctors look at heart function compared to heart rhythm. All three of these are noninvasive, which means they work from a probe outside the body and are not painful. The purpose of this study is to see how Tissue Synchronization Imaging works in patients with heart rhythm problems. We will use patients who have a heart irregularity. We will also look at children and young adults with normal heart function to establish normal values for TSI. All pediatric patients we approach for this study will receive an echocardiogram recommended by their cardiologist (standard of care), plus TSI, a new part of a heart ultrasound The young adult population will undergo a heart ultrasound plus TSI. This young adult population will be selected from medical students at Emory University. During the consent process, the medical students will be informed that participation is voluntary and if they decide not to participate, it will not affect their grades, etc.