[Cardioangiographic evaluation of the left ventricular volume: an analysis of the various formulas used (author's transl)].

In recent years, mono and biplane cardioangiography has been used to calculate the left ventricular volume. In order to evaluate the reliability of the various methods currently most used, a study of 14 hearts removed during autopsy was carried out. The left ventricle was filled with a mixture of paraffin and Lipiodol, the hearts were then X-rayed in anteroposterior projection (AP), laterolateral (LL) and left oblique posterior (OPS) at 30 degrees. The ventricles were opened and the real volume of the cost was obtained by means of the measurement of the volume of displaced liquid. The left ventricular volume was calculated using the methods of Dodge and coll., Sandler and Dodge, Greene and coll. and Kennedy and coll. The data obtained were statistically worked out. With all the tecniques used, there was a good correlation between values of true volume and the volume calculated with the angiographic methods. The coefficient of correlation varied between 0,940 (Dodge and coll. method) and 0,979 (Sandler and Dodge method). A more detailed analysis however, demonstrated that in the hearts with lower volumes, the correlation coefficient is lower and completely unsatisfactory with the methods of Kennedy and coll. and the method of Greene and coll. In these cases some indexes of ventricualr function (stroke volume, ejection fraction) may be not reliable.