Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography for measurement of left ventricular volumes

Left ventricular (LV) volumes are important prognostic indexes in patients with heart disease. Although several methods can evaluate LV volumes, most have important intrinsic limitations. Rear-time 3-dimensional echocardiogra phy (RT3D echo) is a navel technique capable of instantaneous acquisition o f volumetric images, The purpose of this study was to validate LV volume ca lculations with RT3D echo and to determine their usefulness in cardiac pati ents. To this end, 4 normal subjects and 21 cardiac patients underwent magn etic resonance Imaging (MRI) and RT3D echo on the same day, A strong correl ation was found between LV volumes calculated with MRI and with RT3D echo ( r = 0.91; y = 20.1 + 0.71x; SEE 28 ml). LV volumes obtained with MRI were g reater than those obtained with RT3D echo (126 +/- 83 vs 110 +/- 65 ml; p = 0.002), probably due to the fact that heart rate during MRI acquisition wa s lower than that during RTSD echo examination (62 +/- 11 vs 79 +/- 16 beat s/min; p = 0.0001). Analysis of intra- and interobserver variability showed strong indexes of agreement in the measurement of LV volumes with RT3D ech o. Thus, LV volume measurements with RT3D echo are accurate and reproducibl e, This technique expands the use of ultrasound for the noninvasive evaluat ion of cardiac patients and provides a new tool for the investigational stu dy of cardiovascular disease, (C) 1999 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.