Right ventricular volumes revisited: a simple model and simple formula for echocardiographic determination.
Our objective was to establish a crescentic model of the right ventricle as the basis of a reported 2/3 (Area)(Length) empirical formula for volume. This formula has been investigated by others without cognizance of its connection to a clear geometric model. The particular model, an ellipsoidal shell or difference of ellipsoids, has been investigated by several groups by using different volume formulas. Accordingly, we obtained echocardiographic images in 2 orthogonal planes from 7 patients and 4 volunteers. Specified area and length measurements from these images were used to calculate right ventricular volumes. These volumes were compared with values determined through multislice, magnetic resonance imaging with summation of lumen areas, a widely accepted standard. Obtained high correlations compared favorably with those of previous investigators who used equivalent but less well understood methods. We conclude that the ellipsoidal shell model of the right ventricle provides a simple area-length formula for the determination of lumen volume with echocardiography.
South Carolina Children's Heart Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425-0680, USA.
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002306:Cardiac Volume; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right / Q000502:physiology