Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography for quantifying left ventricular mass.
OBJECTIVE
To test the accuracy of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) imaging system for evaluating left ventricular mass (LVM) in phantom and excised canine heart.


METHODS
Ten left ventricular (LV) wall phantoms made of two rubber-bursas, ten excised canine hearts underwent RT3DE and two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE). In RT3DE "full volume" imaging, the myocardial volume was measured using 2, 4, 8, and 16-plane method with the analysis software of RT3DE. Mass was then calculated by multiplying the resulting myocardial volume by specific density of myocardial tissue. In 2DE the masses were measured by area-length method. The true LV wall phantom mass was measured by water displacement and the canine LVM was weighed by anatomy, which served as a reference standard. We compared RT3DE or 2DE with true mass.


RESULTS
In LV wall phantoms, RT3DE correlated with true masses strongly (r = 0.813-0.994) and weakly correlated between 2DE and true masses (r = 0.628). In excised canine hearts, there is an excellent correlation between RT3DE and true masses (r = 0.764-0.991), while 2DE value showed a lesser correlation (r = 0.514). There are no difference between RT-3DE and true masses (P > 0.05) but different between 2DE and true masses (P < 0.05). In different planes, there was no difference between 8-plane and 16-plane (P > 0.05) but different between 8-plane and 2, 4-plane (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
RT3DE can accurately quantify LVM and provide a new tool to evaluate LV function. For LVM by RT3DE, 8-plane measurement method is the best choice for accuracy and convenience.
Fei
Hong-wen
HW
Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022. floyd2001@sina.com
Wang
Xin-fang
XF
Xie
Ming-xing
MX
Zhuang
Lei
L
Chen
Li-xin
LX
Huang
Run-qing
RQ
Yang
Ying
Y
Wang
Jing
J
D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging