title: Determination of left ventricular mass and circumferential wall thickness by three-dimensional reconstruction: in vitro validation of a new method that uses a multiplane transesophageal transducer.
abstract: Elevated left ventricular mass and increased wall thickness have important prognostic implications in clinical medicine. However, these parameters have been incompletely characterized by one- and two-dimensional echocardiography. Therefore this study was performed to validate in vitro measurement of left ventricular mass and circumferential wall thickness with a multiplane transesophageal transducer and three-dimensional reconstruction. Results for mass measurements were also compared with a standard method for the determination of left ventricular mass, the Penn convention. Fourteen necropsied left ventricles were scanned in a water bath by a volume-rendering, three-dimensional reconstruction system. There was an excellent correlation and high agreement for determination of three-dimensional left ventricular mass (r = 0.98; standard error of the estimate [SEE] = 9.6 gm; y = 1.02x + 0.46) and wall thickness (r = 0.93; SEE = 1.4 mm; y = 0.95x + 1.64) compared with anatomic measurements. Left ventricular mass by a simulated Penn convention revealed a lower correlation and larger error compared with three-dimensional measurements (r = 0.72; SEE = 42.8 gm; y = 1.01x + 9.61). Therefore determination of left ventricular mass by three-dimensional reconstruction was validated in vitro and was superior to one-dimensional echocardiographic methods.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik I, Universitătsklinikum der Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Kühl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frielingsdorf
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flaskamp
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Krebs
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Flachskampf
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hanrath
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000379:methods*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D016014:Linear Models; D015588:Observer Variation; D014159:Transducers; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*