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[Reproducibility of echocardiographic parameters by automatic detection of contours in hypertensive patients]
F Tremel1, M Chevallier, J P Siché
1Médecine interne et cardiologie, CHU, Grenoble.
Insights
Automatic outline detection in echocardiography shows poor reproducibility for cardiomyopathy patients. Operator dependence and image quality limit its clinical use for evaluating left ventricular function.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Echocardiography is crucial for assessing cardiac function.
- Reproducibility of automated analysis in echocardiography, particularly in cardiomyopathy, requires thorough evaluation.
- Left ventricular mass measurement is a key diagnostic parameter.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reproducibility of automatic outline detection in echocardiography for patients with cardiomyopathy.
- To assess intra-observer and inter-observer variability in automated contour detection.
- To determine the clinical utility of current automatic contour detection techniques.
Main Methods:
- Two independent observers analyzed systolic, mid-diastolic, and end-diastolic surfaces in 27 hypertensive patients.
- Measurements were repeated by each observer on two separate occasions, at least 2 hours apart.
- Coefficient of variation (CV) was used to quantify intra-observer and inter-observer variability.
Main Results:
- Intra-observer variability for surface area measurement was 10-15%; inter-observer variability was 15-22%.
- CV exceeded 20% for measures of maximum speed, indicating poor reproducibility of diastolic surface changes.
- Reproducibility was significantly affected by image quality (echographic window) and operator-dependent settings (gain).
Conclusions:
- Automatic outline detection in echocardiography has limited reproducibility in cardiomyopathy patients.
- Current automated techniques are operator-dependent and require high-quality acoustic windows, restricting their clinical application.
- Further advancements are needed to improve the reliability and broaden the use of automated echocardiographic analysis in daily practice.
Abstract:
The reproducibility of automatic outline detection is a echocardiographic reproducibility which has been poorly evaluated in patients with cardiomyopathy. Two independent observers identified the systolic surface and mid and end diastolic surfaces of 27 hypertensive patients, who had been referred to the laboratory for the measurement of left ventricular mass. Each observer examined on two occasions all parameters and all parameters were measured at least 2 hours apart. The coefficient of variation (CV) expresses the reproducibility of each measurement. The intra observer was 10 to 15% and the inter observer 15 to 22% for the measurement of surface area. The coefficient of variation is regularly greater than 20% for measures of maximum speed, which characterise surface changes in diastole. The automatic detection of contours is a echocardiographic tool whose potential is great for evaluating left ventricular function but the current versions can only be applied to very selective group of patients depending on the quality of their echographic window for acoustic quantitation. This technique is very operator dependent, in particular as regards setting the gains and this explains its poor reproducibility and its limited interest in daily clinical practice.