title: Coronary artery diameter can be assessed reliably with transthoracic echocardiography.
abstract: We studied whether diameters of coronary arteries can be measured accurately with the use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). By knowing the anatomic diameter of the coronary artery together with coronary flow velocity it is possible to measure coronary flow volume more precisely by TTE. However, the suitability of TTE for measurement of diameters of all main epicardial coronary arteries has not been systematically validated. We measured the diameters of the left main (LM), left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX), and right coronary arteries (RCA) with the use of TTE [manual two-dimensional (2D), color-Doppler, and automated 2D analysis] in 30 patients who had normal coronary anatomy. We compared these diameters to those measured with quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). We could measure diameters of LM, LAD, LCX, and RCA by TTE in up to 37%, 63%, 7%, and 60% of patients, respectively. The overall correlation coefficients between TTE and QCA measurements were 0.83 (P < 0.01) with manual 2D analysis, 0.82 (P < 0.01) with automated 2D analysis, and 0.94 (P < 0.01) with a color-Doppler-based analysis. Interobserver variability of TTE measurements was low (coefficient of variation 5.4 +/- 4.6-7.5 +/- 8.8%). TTE is an accurate method to evaluate coronary artery diameter in patients with healthy coronary arteries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology, Nuclear Medicine and PET, Turku University Hospital, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland. tuoski@utu.fi
authors.forename: Tuomas O
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Kiviniemi
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saraste
authors.forename: Juha W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Koskenvuo
authors.forename: K E Juhani
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Airaksinen
authors.forename: Jyri O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Toikka
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saraste
authors.forename: Jussi P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Pärkkä
authors.forename: Jaakko J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hartiala
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005996:Nitroglycerin / Q000494:pharmacology; D015588:Observer Variation; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D005996:Nitroglycerin