The Application Value Of Three-Dimension Al Echocardiographic Automated Quanti Fication Technique For Assessing Left He Art Chamber Volumes And Function

Objective To evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of threedimensional echocardiographic(3DE)automated quantification techniq ue for assessment of left heart chamber volumes and function in con secutive patients.Methods One hundred and fifty consecutive patients underwent3 DE were enrolled in the cross-sectional study.According to image q uality,patients were divided into satisfactory group(n=102)and unsatisf actory group(n=33).The accuracy and reproducibility of automated 3D E for measuring left ventricular end-diastolic volume(LVEDV),left ve ntricular end-systolicvolume(LVESV),left atrial volume(LAV)and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)were evaluated with the traditional manual 3DE as the relative standard.Among those with satisfactory i mage quality,the effects of cardiac cycle selection on automatic 3DE were analyzed.In addition,according to left ventricular end-diastolic vo lume index and left atrial volume index,patients were grouped as enlargementgroup and normal group,and the significance of editing the en docardial boundaries for both groups was analyzed.Results The automated 3DE successfully analyzed 135 patients.The inter-technique comparisons showed good correlations(r-values:L VEDV:0.90,LVESV:0.87,LAV:0.86,LVEF:0.67,all P<0.01)and small bi ases(LVEDV:11.9ml,LVESV:6.4ml,LAV:9.0ml,LVEF:-0.4%)for all measu rements in all patients.The satisfactory group performed better correlat ions and consistency than the unsatisfactory group(all P<0.05).Betwe en two different cardiac cycles,the automated 3DE measurements sho wed good correlations(r-values:LVEDV:0.96,LVESV:0.96,LAV:0.95,LVE F:0.80,all P<0.01).With corrections,the automated 3DE LVEDV,LVES V increased and LVEF decreased in the left chamber enlargement gro up(all P<0.05).All automated measurements were more reproducible t han conventionalmanual measurements in both intra-/inter-observer stu dies.Conclusions Since automated 3DE is accurate and reproducible for the assessment of left heart chamber volumes and function,it can be widely used in clinical practice as a feasible and objective ultraso und technique.