ASSESSMENT OF LEFT-VENTRICULAR WALL-MOTION ABNORMALITIES WITH THE USEOF COLOR KINESIS - A VALUABLE VISUAL AND TRAINING AID

Accurate interpretation of left ventricular segmental wall motion by e chocardiography is an important yet difficult skill to learn. Color-co ded left ventricular wall motion (color kinesis) is a tool that potent ially could aid in the interpretation and provide semiquantification. We studied the usefulness of color kinesis in 42 patients with a histo ry of congestive cardiomyopathy who underwent two-dimensional echocard iograms and a color kinesis study. The expert's reading of the two-dim ensional wall motion served as a reference for comparison of color kin esis studies interpreted by the expert and a cardiovascular trainee. C orrelation between two-dimensional echocardiography and the expert's a nd trainee's color coded wall motion scores were r = 0.83 and r = 0.67 , respectively. Reproducibility between reviewers and between operator s was also assessed. Interobserver variability for color-coded wall mo tion showed a correlation of r = 0.78. Correlation between operators w as also good: r = 0.84. Color kinesis is reliable and appears promisin g as an adjunct in the assessment of wall motion abnormalities by echo cardiography. It is both a valuable visual aid, as well as a training aid for the cardiovascular trainee.