Right Ventricular Mass Quantification Using Cardiac CT and a Semiautomatic Three-Dimensional Hybrid Segmentation...

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Medical Physics
• Radiology

Background:

• Accurate quantification of right ventricular mass is crucial for diagnosing and managing cardiovascular diseases.
• Traditional methods for assessing right ventricular mass can be time-consuming and prone to variability.
• Novel segmentation techniques are needed to improve the precision and efficiency of right ventricular mass measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the technical applicability of a semiautomatic three-dimensional (3D) hybrid CT segmentation method.
• To assess the accuracy and reproducibility of this method for quantifying right ventricular mass in patients with cardiovascular disease.

Main Methods:

• A semiautomatic 3D hybrid segmentation method was applied to cardiac CT data from 195 patients with cardiovascular disease.
• Cardiac CT data included 270 cardiac phases, analyzed for segmentation error extent (no error, ≤10% error, >10% error).
• Reproducibility was assessed, and right ventricular mass was compared between end-systolic and end-diastolic phases and correlated with hypertrophy groups.

Main Results:

• The method was technically applicable in 96.3% of CT datasets, with 54.4% having no error and 41.9% having ≤10% error.
• High reproducibility was observed (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.999).
• Indexed right ventricular mass was significantly greater at end-systole versus end-diastole (p < 0.001) and highly correlated (r = 0.96).

Conclusions:

• CT quantification of right ventricular mass using a semiautomatic 3D hybrid segmentation is technically applicable.
• The method demonstrates high reproducibility in the majority of cardiovascular disease patients.
• This technique offers a reliable approach for assessing right ventricular mass in clinical settings.