3D echocardiography: evaluation of the right ventricle

Evaluation of right ventricular (RV) volume, function and mass has been challenging because of its unique cavity geometry. However, it is indispensable, especially in patients with signs of right-sided heart failure and those with congenital heart diseases. Thus, many investigations on the RV have been published to this end. Although clinical investigations of the RV have been focused on the use of 2-dimenisonal (2D) echocardiography, progressive development of three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography has made it possible to evaluate the RV in clinical settings lately.

Accuracy of newly developed real-time 3D echocardiography for determining RV volume and function has been reported with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A slight but significant underestimation of MRI derived RV volumes by 3D echocardiographic methods have been found in multiple recent human studies. One of the in-vitro studies rightly reported the importance of technical factors, causing the inaccuracy of 3D echocardiography.

Despite the development of new real-time 3D echocardiographic systems, there still exist limitations in clinical settings due to technical factors. Thus, the combination of conventional 2D and Doppler methods and 3D echocardiography is recommended in the evaluation of the RV at the present time.