Radionuclide ventriculographic quantitation of left ventricular dimensions. Comparison to echocardiography

Left ventricular internal cavity dimensions (LVID) were determined from radionuclide ventriculographic (RNVG) studies using a spatial calibration algorithm and visually defined edges and were compared to the results from two-dimensional echocardiography. Routine clinical cases were used with no additional views and no attenuation or scatter correction. In an initial set of 21 patients, mean RNVG LVID was 5.7 +/- 1.1 (mean +/- 1 S.D.) cm compared to 5.3 +/- 1.0 cm for echocardiography. In a prospective validation of the regression equations derived in the initial set of patients, regression-corrected RNVG results were within 5 mm of those determined echocardiographically in 18/22 patients and the mean LVID values were the same. Quantitative estimation of LVID by RNVG is simple, rapid, and reproducible. Systematic overestimation of dimensions compared to echocardiography can be corrected using a regression equation.