[Evaluation of left ventricular morphology and function by cardiac computed tomographic examination]

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Radiology
• Cardiac CT

Background:

• Assessing left ventricular (LV) morphology and function is crucial in managing heart diseases.
• Traditional methods like LV angiocardiography (LVG) have limitations.
• Cardiac computed tomography (CT) offers a non-invasive alternative for cardiac evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical usefulness of cardiac computed tomography (CT) for assessing left ventricular (LV) morphology and function.
• To compare CT-derived measurements with those obtained from LV angiocardiography (LVG).

Main Methods:

• One hundred and forty-nine adult patients with various heart diseases underwent cardiac CT using GE scanner.
• Both ungated scans (for volume and mass) and ECG-gated scans (for ejection fraction) were performed.
• LV morphology, end-diastolic area (EDA), end-systolic area (ESA), LV mean volume (LVMV), LV ejection fraction (EF), and LV mass were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Cardiac CT accurately visualized LV morphology, including wall thickening in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and thinning/thrombus in myocardial infarction.
• LV mean volume (LVMV) from ungated scans correlated well with LVG-derived end-diastolic volume (EDV) (r=0.91).
• Gated CT-derived LV ejection fraction (LVEF) correlated well with LVG (r=0.73-0.79), and LV mass correlated strongly (r=0.90).

Conclusions:

• Cardiac CT is a valuable tool for evaluating LV morphology and function in clinical practice.
• CT-derived measurements of LV volume, ejection fraction, and mass show good correlation with LV angiocardiography.
• Cardiac CT provides accurate and comprehensive assessment of the left ventricle.