[Dumesnil's method: is it viable?].
BACKGROUND
Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) is an indicator of left ventricular systolic function and is a potent predictor of cardiovascular mortality. LVEF is assessed by a variety of methods, however echocardiography is the most used in clinical practice. Simpson biplane multiple disc method (BMDM) is recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography; Dumesnil's method based on doppler echocardiography seems to be simpler and theoritically less influenced by distortion of LV geometry.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the accuracy and reproducibility of Dumesnil's method a group of 100 patients proposed for coronarography with left ventricular angiography, prospectively underwent LVEF measurements by both BMDM and Dumesnil's method.


RESULTS
Compared with LV angiography, the correlation coefficient for the Dumesnil's method was r = 0.85 and it was r = 0.9 for BMDM. Correlation in patients with LV regional asynergy were respectively r = 0.69 and r = 0.85. Intraobserver and interobserver variabilities were less then 7% for both echocardiographic methods.


CONCLUSIONS
Although Dumesnil's method is less accurate than BMDM, it is simpler, more rapid with a satisfactory reliability and reproducibility.
Abdesselem
S
S
Service de cardiologie de l'hôpital militaire principal d'instruction de Tunis, Montfleury, Tunis, Tunisie.
Barakett
N
N
Fehri
W
W
Haouala
H
H
Rahal
N
N
M'Henni
H
H
Smiri
Z
Z
Malek
S
S
Guediche
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology