title: Left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction derived from apical two-dimensional echocardiography.
abstract: Two-dimensional echocardiographic data in orthogonal apical projections were used to calculate left ventricular ejection fraction and volumes in 18 patients, 10 of whom had asynergy. The left ventricular chamber was modeled as a stack of 20 elliptical discs in order to minimize errors associated with assumptions of regular geometry. Calculations were compared to data from biplane angiography and yielded correlation coefficients of 0.91 for ejection fraction and 0.90 for volumes. The technique significantly underestimated volumes; the average ventricular volume was 161 +/- 23 ml from cineangiography and 104 +/- 25 ml from echocardiography (p < 0.001). Since this technique utilizes the most readily obtained echocardiographic views and allows for variations in ventricular architecture, its potential utility in long-term, serial evaluation of cardiac function appears promising.
authors.affiliation: Clayton Foundation for Research Cardiovascular Laboratories and the Division of Cardiology of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and the Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Sidney K.
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Edelman
authors.forename: Dennis W.
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Leonard W.
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Pechacek
authors.forename: Efrain
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garcia