[Right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction estimated by two-dimensional echocardiography]

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Accurate assessment of right ventricular function is crucial in managing congenital heart disease.
• Traditional methods like angiography carry risks, necessitating reliable non-invasive alternatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of two-dimensional echocardiography with right ventricular angiography in estimating right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction.
• To validate echocardiography as a viable alternative for assessing right ventricular function.

Main Methods:

• Twenty patients with congenital heart disease were studied.
• Right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction (RVEF) were measured using both two-dimensional echocardiography (apical four-chamber view, area-length method) and single-plane right ventricular angiography.

Main Results:

• Echocardiographic estimates of end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, and stroke volume showed high correlation with angiographic measurements (r=0.983, 0.976, 0.973).
• Echocardiographic RVEF strongly correlated with angiographic RVEF (r=0.992, P<0.001).
• No statistically significant differences were found between the two methods (P>0.05).

Conclusions:

• Two-dimensional echocardiography provides accurate estimations of right ventricular volumes.
• Echocardiography is a reliable and non-invasive method for assessing right ventricular ejection fraction in patients with congenital heart disease.