Ventricular dimensions measured noninvasively by echocardiography in the awake dog.

A surface echocardiographic technique was employed in 37 mongrel dogs for measurement of left ventricular dimensions. Intracardiac bolus injections of dextran were used as an echo contrast material to visualize cardiac chambers, and the identification of intracardiac structures was further confirmed by postmortem examination. The left ventricle could be satisfactorily visualized from both the right and left chest, providing two transverse left ventricular diameters nearly perpendicular to each other. End-diastolic and end-systolic diameter measurements in the two separate transverse planes differed by an average of only 0.07 and 0.1 cm, respectively, and dimensional measurements were reproducible from day to day. Diastolic diameter ranged from 3.0 to 4.7 cm (mean 3.7 cm) and systolic diameter 1.9 to 3.3 cm (mean 2.6 cm). Diameter was directly related to animal weight. Stroke volume calculated from the dimension measurements correlated with stroke volume calculated from indicator-dilution curves in 16 dogs. Ejection fraction averaged 0.67 and 0.54, depending on the formula used to calculate volumes. These results indicate that surface echocardiography can be employed to evaluate left ventricular dimensions in the awake dog.