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Updated: Oct 8, 2026
Murine Echocardiography of Left Atrium, Aorta, and Pulmonary Artery
Published on: February 20, 2017
Validity of echocardiographic estimates of left ventricular size and performance in infants and children
Insights
Echocardiography reliably assesses pediatric left ventricular function. Mean circumferential shortening rate (mean Vcf) showed the strongest correlation, validating its use in infants and children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Diagnostic Imaging
- Echocardiography
Background:
- Echocardiography is established for adult left ventricular assessment.
- Its application in pediatric populations requires validation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate echocardiography for estimating left ventricular size and function in children.
- To compare echocardiographic measures with angiocardiography.
Main Methods:
- A validation study involving 40 children (4 days to 16 years).
- Comparison of echocardiographic indices with angiocardiographic data.
Main Results:
- Significant correlations found for left ventricular end-diastolic volume (r=0.76), end-systolic volume (r=0.68), and ejection fraction (r=0.73).
- Left ventricular mean circumferential shortening rate (mean Vcf) demonstrated the highest correlation (r=0.91).
Conclusions:
- Echocardiography, particularly mean Vcf, is a useful and reliable method for assessing pediatric left ventricular function.
- Care is advised when interpreting echocardiographic indices of ventricular size and performance in children.
Abstract:
Echocardiography has been shown to be a reliable method for estimating left ventricular size and function in adults, but little attention has been paid to its application to infants and children. This paper describes a validatory study in 40 children aged between 4 days and 16 years. There was a significant correlation between angiocardiographic and echocardiographic estimates of left ventricular end-diastolic volume (r=0.76), left ventricular end-systolic volume (r=0.68), and ejection fraction (r=0.73). Left ventricular mean circumferential shortening rate (mean Vcf), however, gave the mostsignificant correlation (r=0.91). These findings indicate that while care must be exercised in interpreting indices of left ventricular size and performance derived from echocardiography, these measurements, and in particular mean Vcf, do offer a useful and reliable means of assessing left ventricular function in infants and children.
