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Updated: Dec 8, 2025
Evaluation of Left Ventricular Structure and Function using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
[Feasibility of evaluating the left ventricular function in patients with cardiovascular diseases by fully automatic
1Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Affiliated Cardiovascular Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China.
Insights
Fully automatic 3D echocardiography accurately assesses left ventricular volume and function in cardiovascular disease patients. This method shows excellent repeatability and is suitable for clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Echocardiography
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease necessitates accurate left ventricular function assessment.
- Traditional manual echocardiography can be time-consuming and prone to variability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the clinical utility of fully automatic quantified 3D transthoracic echocardiography for left ventricular function assessment.
- To compare the accuracy and repeatability of automated vs. manual echocardiography measurements.
Main Methods:
- 197 cardiac patients underwent 3D transthoracic echocardiography.
- Automated 3D echocardiography measurements (LVEDV, LVESV, LVEF) were compared against manual measurements (gold standard).
- Inter-observer and intra-observer variability were assessed.
Main Results:
- Automated 3D echocardiography showed strong positive correlations with manual measurements (r=0.96-0.98, P<0.05).
- Automated measurements of LVEDV and LVESV were significantly higher than manual (P<0.05).
- Automated 3D echocardiography demonstrated significantly improved classification of systolic dysfunction and reduced variability compared to manual methods (P<0.05).
Conclusions:
- Fully automatic quantified 3D transthoracic echocardiography offers high accuracy and repeatability for left ventricular volume and function assessment.
- This automated approach is clinically feasible and advantageous over manual methods.
Abstract:
Objective: To investigate the clinical value of left ventricular function assessment in patients with cardiovascular disease by fully automatic quantified three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. Methods: One hundred and ninety-seven patients with cardiac diseases were examined by three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography from September 2017 to May 2019. Data from 61 patients with grade 1 echocardiographic image quality were used to determine the default boundary values of endocardial end-diastolic and end-systolic phases. Clinical features were analyzed based on electronic medical records. The accuracy and repeatability of this strategy was evaluated by comparing left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), end-systolic volume (LVESV) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) measured by automated quantitative three-dimensional echocardiography and those measured by conventional manual transthoracic echocardiography, the latter served as gold standard. Results: The levels of LVEDV, LVESV and LVEF measured by automatic three-dimensional echocardiography were positively correlated with values obtained by manual measurement（r=0.97，0.97, 0.98, 0.97, 0.97, 0.96；P<0.05). The levels of LVEDV and LVESV measured by full-automatic three-dimensional echocardiography were significantly higher than those obtained by manual three-dimensional echocardiography（all P<0.05）. The classification and correlation of systolic dysfunction in patients with abnormal ventricular wall motion by automatic three-dimensional echocardiography were significantly improved after manual calibration (κ=0.74, P=0.00) as compared to without manual calibration (κ=0.63, P=0.00). The inter-observer and intra-observer variability of fully automated three-dimensional echocardiography were significantly smaller than manual three-dimensional echocardiography（both P<0.05）. Conclusion: Fully automatic quantified three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography possesses excellent accuracy and repeatability in measuring left ventricular volume and function， and it is feasible for clinical application.
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