3-DIMENSIONAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF THE EXTENSION OF DYSFUNCTIONAL MASS IN PATIENT WITH CORONARY-ARTERY DISEASE

Two-dimensional (2D) echocardiographic estimation of infarcted mass is limited by having only a few selected nonparallel views for data anal ysis. Volume-rendered three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography may be a ble to overcome the above limitations, because it uses multiple, paral lel 2D images to derive quantitative data, Previous experimental studi es demonstrated that 3D echocardiography is an accurate and reproducib le method to assess dysfunctional mass. To estimate the accuracy of 3D echocardiography in humans, we evaluated 10 patients who had a single myocardial infarction, All patients underwent 2D and 3D echocardiogra phy using the transesophageal approach, and contrast (gadolinium) magn etic resonance imaging (MRI), considered a reference standard for infa rcted tissue detection, The mean extent of dysfunctional mass by MRI w as 28 +/- 13 g and by 3D echocardiography was 30 +/- 12 g; the mean di fference was 1.9 +/- 2.3 g (p = not significant), Linear regression an alysis between the 2 measurements was y = 0.97x - 1,12, r = 0.98, Dysf unctional mass derived from 30 echocardiography reflects the real site and extension of damaged myocardium, (C) 1998 by Excerpta Medica, Inc .