Experimental And Clinical Study On Measurements Of Left Ventricular Volume And Left Ventricular Function By Using Real-time Tri-plane Echocardiography

It is very important for rapid, simple and accurate estimation of left ventricular volume and left ventricular function in clinical practice. We attempted to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of real-time tri-plane echocardiography for quantifying left ventricular volumes in an in vitro pig hearts with left ventricular aneurysm. We also try to detect left ventricular function in normal controls by using real-time tri-plane echocardiography.Part 1 Real-time Tri-plane Echocardiography for Quantifying Left Ventricular Volumes in the Presence of Left Ventricular Aneurysm: Experimental StudyObjectives We attempted to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of real-time tri-plane echocardiography for quantifying left ventricular(LV) volumes in the presence of LV aneurysm in an in vitro pig hearts fixed by formaldehyde.Methods Seventeen freshly excised porcine hearts of left ventricular volumes with the formation of aneurysm were first soaked in 10% formaldehyde solution for fixing the shape of the left ventricle cavities. The models placed in a water tank were measured by two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) and real-time tri-plane echocardiography (RT-3PE). The results obtained by echocardiography were compared with the actual volumes measured by water displacement, which served as a reference standard.Results A linear regression analysis demonstrated there was an excellent correlation (r=0.92, p<0.01) between the RT-3PE results and the actual volumes. Furthermore , there was no significant difference in the volumes measured by two methods (RT-3PE: 35.7±5.6 ml; the actual volumes :37.0±6.2ml , p>0.05). Although there was a good correlation (r=0.82, p<0.01) between the 2DE results and the actual volumes, the left ventricular volumes measured by 2DE (29.93±4.93ml) was significantly different from the actual volumes (37.0±6.2ml). And the left ventricular volumes obtained by 2DE and RT-3PE were significantly different. The analysis of Bland and Altman also showed that the volumes measured by 3RT-PE and the actual volumes had closer agreement than those of 2DE and the actual volumes.Conclusions The present study demonstrates that RT-3PE provided a new way for rapid and accurate estimation of left ventricular volumes in the presence of left ventricular aneurysm.Part 2 Real-time tri-plane echocardiography for evaluating left ventricular function in healthy subjectsObjectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of real-time tri-plane echocardiography in measurement of left ventricular function in healthy subjects.Methods Left ventricular stroke volume (LVSV) in 36 healthy volunteers were measured by RT-3PE, M-mode Teicholtz, two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) Simpson method and the product of aortic flow Doppler spectrum integral and aortic valvular area. Left ventricular stroke volume measured by RT-3PE was compared with every measurement of three traditional methods.Results Left ventricular stroke volume obtained by RT-3PE with M-mode, 2DE and Doppler methods were good correlation (r=0.765, 0.890, 0.804, p <0.01). Furthermore, there were no statistically significant difference among RT-3PE and three traditional methods for LVSV.Conclusions RT-3PE provides a new way for rapid, simple estimutation of left ventricular volume and function in healthy subjects.