Visually estimated left ventricular ejection fraction by echocardiography is closely correlated with formal...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Echocardiography

Background:

• Established echocardiographic methods for left ventricular systolic function include Simpson ejection fraction, wall motion score index, atrioventricular (AV) plane displacement, and fractional shortening.
• Visually estimated (eyeballing) ejection fraction, while subjective, has shown good correlation with radionuclide ventriculography.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of echocardiographic eyeballing ejection fraction with established formal methods for assessing left ventricular systolic function.

Main Methods:

• 89 patients post-myocardial infarction or pre-coronary angiography were assessed.
• Eyeballing ejection fraction and wall motion score index were evaluated across multiple views.
• Formal methods (Simpson ejection fraction, AV plane displacement, fractional shortening) were measured from specific views.

Main Results:

• All formal methods showed significant correlation with eyeballing ejection fraction (p<0.001).
• Correlation coefficients ranged from R=0.647 (AV plane displacement) to R=0.898 (biplane Simpson ejection fraction).
• Wall motion score index demonstrated the highest correlation (R=0.919) with eyeballing ejection fraction.

Conclusions:

• Eyeballing ejection fraction closely correlates with all formal echocardiographic assessments of left ventricular systolic function.
• The accuracy of eyeballing ejection fraction appears to improve with the reliability of the formal method used for comparison.
• Eyeballing ejection fraction is a potentially accurate, quick, and readily available method suitable for routine echocardiography.