Three-dimensional echocardiographic measurement of left ventricular wall thickness: In vitro and in vivo validation.
BACKGROUND
Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography has been shown to accurately measure left ventricular (LV) volume and mass. This study evaluated the accuracy of 3D echocardiography and the CenterSurface method for measuring LV wall thickness in vitro and in vivo.


METHODS
Three-dimensional echocardiography scans, obtained from 7 LV phantoms and subjects having healthy (n = 5) or diseased (n = 8) hearts, were digitized. Endocardial and epicardial borders were outlined and used in 3D LV reconstruction. In vitro wall thickness was compared with true micrometer measurements. Three-dimensional in vivo wall thickness was compared with 2-dimensional (2D) thickness measured by the centerline method.


RESULTS
The in vitro 3D echocardiography measurements agreed closely with true wall thickness (P <.0001), as did in vivo measurements (P <.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Three-dimensional echocardiography reconstruction has previously been shown to provide accurate representation of LV shape in addition to volume and mass. This study demonstrates that the CenterSurface method provides accurate quantification of wall thickness.
Hubka
Michal
M
Cardiovascular Research and Training Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Lipiecki
Janusz
J
Bolson
Edward L
EL
Martin
Roy W
RW
Munt
Brad
B
Maza
Sharon R
SR
Sheehan
Florence H
FH
D000818:Animals; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D016014:Linear Models; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015588:Observer Variation; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013552:Swine; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology