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Updated: Aug 16, 2026
Echocardiographic Assessment of Cardiac Anatomy and Function in Adult Rats
Published on: December 13, 2019
Left ventricular function studied with MDCT
Kai Uwe Juergens1, Roman Fischbach
1Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Muenster, Germany. kujuerg@uni-muenster.de
Insights
Multi-detector-row spiral CT (MDCT) can accurately assess left ventricular (LV) function, providing valuable cardiac morphology and dynamic information. This technique offers a feasible alternative for LV function assessment in patients undergoing MDCT coronary angiography.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Medical Diagnostics
- Radiology
Background:
- Accurate left ventricular (LV) myocardial function assessment is crucial for diagnosing and managing cardiomyopathy.
- Multi-detector-row spiral CT (MDCT) is primarily used for coronary artery obstruction and cardiac morphology assessment.
- Established imaging modalities include cineventriculography, echocardiography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the diagnostic potential of MDCT for assessing LV myocardial function.
- To compare the accuracy and clinical applications of MDCT with CMR for LV function assessment.
- To discuss the limitations of MDCT in evaluating LV regional wall motion.
Main Methods:
- Retrospectively ECG-gated MDCT was used for determining LV volumes and global function parameters.
- Post-processing tools enabled semi-automatic determination of LV function parameters, similar to CMR approaches.
- MDCT regional LV wall motion analysis was performed at rest.
Main Results:
- MDCT determination of LV volumes and global function parameters shows good agreement with established modalities.
- MDCT provides accessory dynamic information for combined cardiac morphology and function assessment without additional radiation.
- Feasible assessment of regional LV wall motion at rest, though temporal resolution requires improvement for comparison with other modalities.
Conclusions:
- MDCT is a feasible technique for assessing global LV function, offering complementary information during coronary angiography.
- While not a first-line modality for LV function, MDCT provides valuable insights, especially when combined with morphology assessment.
- Further improvements in temporal resolution are needed for MDCT to match the performance of CMR in regional LV wall motion analysis.
Abstract:
Accurate determination of left ventricular (LV) myocardial function is fundamental for clinical diagnosis, risk stratification, and estimation of prognosis in patients with ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. Primarily, multi-detector-row spiral CT (MDCT) of the heart aimed at detecting coronary artery obstruction and cardiac morphology. Multiple studies have demonstrated that retrospectively, ECG-gated MDCT determination of LV volumes and consequently global LV function parameters is feasible in good agreement with established imaging modalities such as cineventriculography, echocardiography, and cine magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). Post-processing tools allow fast and semi-automatic determination of LV function parameters from MDCT data in analogy to known CMR evaluation approaches. Although MDCT is not considered to be first-line modality for LV function assessment, this technique provides accessory dynamic information in patients undergoing MDCT coronary angiography, contributing to combined assessment of cardiac morphology and function without need of additional radiation exposure. MDCT regional LV wall motion analysis at rest is feasible, but further improvement in temporal resolution seems mandatory to match results obtained from competing modalities. This paper will discuss the diagnostic potential of MDCT for assessment of LV function with regards to accuracy and clinical applications, as well as limitations, particularly in comparison with CMR as modality of reference.
