COMPARISON OF ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC AUTOMATIC BORDER DETECTION AND MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING, MEASUREMENTS OF THE LEFT-VENTRICLE IN NORMAL SUBJECTS

Echocardiographic automatic border detection (ABD) has been the object of several studies with diverging results. The aim of this study was to verify the validity of ABD measurements by comparison with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Twenty healthy subjects underwent measuremen t of end systolic surface (ESA) and end diastolic surface areas (EDA) and the fraction of surface Variation (FSV), end systolic volume (ESV) , end diastolic volume (EDV) and ejection fraction (EF). These results were compared with the same parameters measured by cine MRI and a stu dy of the variability of interpretation was performed on the echocardi ographic parameters. An ABD analysis was possible in 80 % of the study population. The correlations were satisfactory between the EDA and ED V (EDA : r = 0.84; SD = 1.9 cm(2): EDV: r = 0.90; SD = 12 mi) with acc eptable confidence intervals (CI) (EDA : [-4.02; 1.19 cm(2)]/EDV : [-2 6; +7.9 ml]) and an underestimation of ABD Values (EDA: -9 %/EDV : -10 %). With regards to the end systolic measurements, the correlations w ere not as good (ESA : r = 0.68 : SD = 1.5 cm(2)/EDV : r = 0.59; +12 m i) with a more important measurement error (ESA : -2.05; +3.45 cm(2))/ EDA : (-9; +27 mi) and an overestimation of the ABD values (ESA : +10 %; ESV : +18 %). No correlation was observed between the FSV and EF. T he Intra and inter-observer errors were compared with those of convent ional echocardiography (intra-observer error: 10.7-16.9 %/inter-observ er error : 10.8-16.6 %). The authors conclude that ABD has a non-negli geable measurement error which limits its application in clinical prac tice. New transducers, automatisation of gain adjustment and new techn ologies should improve ABD measurements.