Three echocardiographic methods in right ventricular function evaluation

We employed two-dimensional echocardiography for the assessment of right ventricular (RV) volumes and/or function in a series of 44 patients. The results of three different echocardiographic approaches were compared with the data obtained from single-plane RV angiography following ultrasound within a 7-day interval. Only the echocardiographic area length method with two orthogonal imaging planes employed (apical 4-chamber and subcostal projections) yielded the beneficial results. The correlations between echocardiographic and angiographic RV volume estimates were rather high (end-diastolic volume: r = 0.83, end-systolic volume: r = 0.82, stroke volume: r = 0.81) and satisfactory in ejection fraction (r = 0.75). Using the method mentioned, the differentiation of patients with an angiographic evidence of RV failure (echocardiographic ejection fraction less than 0.55) from those without it was possible with a sensitivity of 0.68 and a specificity of 0.82. Concerning the clinical impact of the presented study, we can recommend the technique in question as a screening procedure for the detection of changes in RV function exceeding 12% (95% confidence limits).