Left atrial volume determination by biplane two-dimensional echocardiography: validation by cine computed tomography

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Echocardiography

Background:

• Left atrial (LA) volume is crucial for cardiovascular assessment.
• Traditional methods like levophase angiography have limitations.
• Echocardiography offers a non-invasive approach but requires validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the accuracy of two-dimensional echocardiography for measuring left atrial volume.
• To compare echocardiographic measurements with cine computed tomography (Cine CT).

Main Methods:

• Method of discs (modified Simpson's rule) applied to orthogonal biplane echocardiographic images.
• Comparison of LA end-systolic volume between echocardiography and Cine CT in 27 patients.
• Prospective and retrospective analysis of echocardiographic data, with emphasis on LA size optimization.

Main Results:

• High correlation (r=0.98) between echocardiography and Cine CT for LA volume.
• Echocardiography underestimated Cine CT measurements by 23%.
• Prospective measurements with optimized LA size showed better correlation (r=0.88) and closer slope to unity compared to retrospective analysis (r=0.77).

Conclusions:

• Two-dimensional echocardiography provides valid and closely correlating measurements of LA volume compared to Cine CT.
• Optimizing LA size during echocardiographic scanning is essential to minimize measurement inaccuracies.
• Echocardiography is a reliable tool for determining left atrial volume.