PDA is a common congenital heart disease.It results in progressive left to right shunting.
Development of pulmonary hypertension is the major complication.PDA need to be closed once the diagnosis is made.Until recently surgery was the only option.Now we have device, coil closure available. Not all ducts are amenable to device closure.
For a duct to be closed by device we have to know the exact anatomy of the ductus.echocardiography has limitation to accurately image the ductus. Angiogram is the specific method.
What is the normal length of patent ductus arteriosus ?
The length of duct is very variable it can vary between 1 mm to 35 mm.
A 2 mm PDA is nothing but direct adherence of aorta and pulmonary artery (Ultra short form , similar to AP window )
What is the branching angle of ductus from aorta and the entry angle at the pulmonary artery ?
This is an important determinant of technical success of device closure .Very abtuse or acute angled ductus can
face difficulty in deploying devices. The normal angle in lateral view is between 30-60 d
How do you classify PDA ? .
There is only one classification of PDA available based on angiogram .Krichenko*
Taken from *Krichenko A,. Angiographic classification of the isolated, persistently patent ductus arteriosus and implications for percutaneous catheter occlusion. Am J Cardiol. 1989; 63: 877–879
http://www.circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/114/17/1873
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 
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