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Reproducibility of cardiac stroke volume estimated by Doppler echocardiography
Insights
Doppler echocardiography accurately measures cardiac stroke volume in coronary artery disease patients. This non-invasive method shows high reliability for tracking changes in stroke volume over time.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Echocardiography
Background:
- Coronary artery disease (CAD) management requires precise monitoring of cardiac function.
- Assessing cardiac stroke volume is crucial for evaluating treatment efficacy in CAD patients.
- Doppler echocardiography offers a non-invasive method for cardiac output assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability and variability of Doppler echocardiography in measuring cardiac stroke volume.
- To determine the method's sensitivity in detecting day-to-day changes in stroke volume in CAD patients on cardioactive drugs.
Main Methods:
- Doppler echocardiography was employed to measure cardiac stroke volume in 10 CAD patients.
- Stroke volume was calculated using aortic orifice area and systolic velocity integral from apical and suprasternal approaches.
- Measurements were taken by two independent observers on separate days to assess inter-observer and day-to-day variability.
Main Results:
- No systematic differences were found between observers, Doppler approaches, or measurement days.
- The coefficient of variation between measurements was 9%, indicating high reproducibility.
- The method can detect day-to-day stroke volume changes exceeding 20% with >0.95 probability.
Conclusions:
- Doppler echocardiography provides a reliable and reproducible method for measuring cardiac stroke volume in CAD patients.
- The technique is sensitive enough to detect clinically significant day-to-day variations in stroke volume.
- This supports its utility in monitoring therapeutic responses to cardioactive drugs in CAD.
Abstract:
Doppler echocardiography was used to measure cardiac stroke volume in 10 patients with coronary artery disease who were treated with cardioactive drugs. Stroke volume estimates were determined at the aortic orifice by multiplying area by systolic velocity integral measured both from the suprasternal and the apical approach. Recordings were done independently by 2 experienced observers on the same day and repeated once after 1 to 21 days. Analysis of variance showed that no systematic differences were introduced by the 2 observers and Doppler approaches or by measuring on different days. The coefficient of variation between any pair of measurements in each patient was 9%. This variability is probably a result of the method or spontaneous fluctuations of the stroke volume and not of the varying recording conditions. The ultrasonic method detects day-to-day changes of cardiac stroke volume larger than 20% with a probability greater than 0.95.