Management of patients with complex congenital heart defects (CHD) requires 3D imagination skills for the spatial evaluation of cardiac structures. Current 3D imaging [echocardiography, MRI, computed tomography (CT)], projected on a 2D screen, limits the appreciation of the relief and the interaction of anatomical structures.

The contribution of 3D stereoscopic relief imagery (3D S/R), built by triangle-based mesh generation, is more qualitative than quantitative, which is why its use, rarely reported in the literature, must be evaluated.

3D S/R was used from 2009 to 2019, as much as the CT made it possible to define a Region of Interest. Data and segmentation processing have been used to obtain four different types of reconstructions: MultiPlanar (MPR), Volume Rendering Technique (VRT), Surface Rendering Technique (SRT), and 3D S/R. The anaglyph 3D S/R effect requires the wearing of glasses (red - cyan blue filters) distributed during the session (Fig. 1). Five complex CHD will be presented in MPR, VRT, then in SRT and 3D S/R:

– Ventriculo-Arterial Malposition,

– multiple Ventricular Septal Defects,

– Anomalous Aortic Origin of a Coronary Artery,

– Coarctation and hypoplastic Aortic Arch,

– abnormal Pulmonary Arterial Arborization with Major Aorto-Pulmonary Collateral Arteries.

The qualitative evaluation [MPR+VRT versus SRT and 3D S/R] will be carried out by questions/answers [Wooclap™ interactive system - voting on smartphone, in streaming, using a code associated with the presentation], allowing a global rating of the five CHD, concerning:

– the perception of the relief,

– the understanding of the cardiopathy,

– the probability of appropriation of this 3D S/R imagery.

This presentation will allow:

– to assess the potential influence of 3D S/R on the management strategy of CHD,

– to compare these imaging studies with mesh generation techniques leading to the more commonly reported 3D printing.