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Morphological and Functional Assessment of the Right Ventricle Using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
A step-by-step guide for cardiac computed tomography ventricular volumetry using three-dimensional threshold-based
Hyun Woo Goo1, Haifa Abdul Latiff2
1Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88, Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea. ghw68@hanmail.net.
Insights
Cardiac computed tomography (CT) can assess ventricular function in pediatric congenital heart disease. A 3D segmentation method improves accuracy for CT-based ventricular volumetry, offering a valuable alternative when MRI is not feasible.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Medical Physics
Background:
- Cardiac computed tomography (CT) offers high spatial resolution and short scan times for evaluating ventricular function in children with congenital heart disease (CHD).
- Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often the preferred modality, but CT serves as a crucial alternative when MRI is unavailable, inadequate, or contraindicated.
- Assessing ventricular function with CT requires higher radiation doses than morphological evaluation, necessitating careful consideration of radiation exposure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a step-by-step guide for cardiac CT ventricular volumetry using 3D threshold-based segmentation in pediatric CHD.
- To highlight the advantages of 3D segmentation over conventional methods for accurate and reproducible ventricular volume assessment.
- To provide a practical approach for clinicians utilizing CT for functional assessment in CHD.
Main Methods:
- Detailed methodology for performing cardiac CT with a focus on achieving high spatial resolution and short scan times.
- Explanation of the 3D threshold-based segmentation technique for ventricular volumetry.
- Comparison of the 3D segmentation approach with conventional 2D disc summation and simplified contouring methods.
Main Results:
- The 3D threshold-based segmentation approach demonstrates superior accuracy and reproducibility for ventricular volumetry compared to conventional methods.
- This advanced segmentation technique overcomes limitations of simplified contouring and 2D summation in volumetric analysis.
- Cardiac CT, particularly with 3D segmentation, provides a viable option for ventricular function assessment in CHD.
Conclusions:
- Cardiac CT with 3D threshold-based segmentation is an accurate and reproducible method for ventricular volumetry in pediatric CHD.
- This technique offers a valuable alternative to MRI, especially in cases where MRI is not feasible.
- Guidelines for implementing this advanced CT analysis are essential for clinical practice in CHD management.
Abstract:
In addition to morphologic evaluation, cardiac computed tomography with a short scan time and a high spatial resolution may be performed to assess ventricular function in children with congenital heart disease, especially when cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is unavailable, inadequate, or contraindicated. Caution should be exercised over the computed tomography radiation dose because greater radiation doses are used to assess ventricular function than morphology. The three-dimensional threshold-based segmentation approach leads to higher accuracy and reproducibility of ventricular volumetry than the conventional approach, which frequently uses simplified contouring and two-dimensional disc summation. However, this approach is less frequently utilized in clinical practice than the conventional approach. Therefore, a step-by-step guide to cardiac computed tomography ventricular volumetry using three-dimensional threshold-based segmentation is presented for congenital heart disease.
