Clinical value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography for right ventricular quantification in congenital heart disease: validation with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to test the feasibility, accuracy, and reproducibility of the assessment of right ventricular (RV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) using real-time three-dimensional echocardiographic (RT3DE) imaging in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) as a reference.

METHODS

RT3DE data sets and short-axis cine CMR images were obtained in 62 consecutive patients (mean age, 26.9 +/- 10.4 years; 65% men) with various CHDs. RV volumetric quantification was done using semiautomated 3-dimensional border detection for RT3DE images and manual tracing of contours in multiple slices for CMR images.

RESULTS

Adequate RV RT3DE data sets could be analyzed in 50 of 62 patients (81%). The time needed for RV acquisition and analysis was less for RT3DE imaging than for CMR (P < .001). Compared with CMR, RT3DE imaging underestimated RV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes and EF by 34 +/- 65 mL, 11 +/- 55 mL, and 4 +/- 13% (P < .05) with 95% limits of agreement of +/-131 mL, +/-109 mL, and +/-27%, as shown by Bland-Altman analyses, with highly significant correlations (r = 0.93, r = 0.91, and r = 0.74, respectively, P < .001). Interobserver variability was 1 +/- 15%, 6 +/- 17%, and 8 +/- 13% for end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes and EF, respectively.

CONCLUSION

In the majority of unselected patients with complex CHD, RT3DE imaging provides a fast and reproducible assessment of RV volumes and EF with fair to good accuracy compared with CMR reference data when using current commercially available hardware and software. Further studies are warranted to confirm our data in similar and other patient populations to establish its use in clinical practice.