Use of Cardiac Computed Tomography for Ventricular Volumetry in Late Postoperative Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot.

BACKGROUND

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) has emerged as an alternative to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for ventricular volumetry. However, the clinical use of cardiac CT requires external validation.

METHODS

Both cardiac CT and MRI were performed prior to pulmonary valve implantation (PVI) in 11 patients (median age, 19 years) who had undergone total correction of tetralogy of Fallot during infancy. The simplified contouring method (MRI) and semiautomatic 3-dimensional region-growing method (CT) were used to measure ventricular volumes.

RESULTS

All volumetric indices measured by CT and MRI generally correlated well with each other, except for the left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LV-ESVI), which showed the following correlations with the other indices: the right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (RV-EDVI) (r=0.88, p<0.001), the right ventricular end-systolic volume index (RV-ESVI) (r=0.84, p=0.001), the left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LV-EDVI) (r=0.90, p=0.001), and the LV-ESVI (r=0.55, p=0.079). While the EDVIs measured by CT were significantly larger than those measured by MRI (median RV-EDVI: 197 mL/m vs. 175 mL/m, p=0.008; median LV-EDVI: 94 mL/m vs. 92 mL/m, p=0.026), no significant differences were found for the RV-ESVI or LV-ESVI.

CONCLUSION

The EDVIs measured by cardiac CT were greater than those measured by MRI, whereas the ESVIs measured by CT and MRI were comparable. The volumetric characteristics of these 2 diagnostic modalities should be taken into account when indications for late PVI after tetralogy of Fallot repair are assessed.