Swain J L, Morris K G, Bruno F P, Cobb F R
Am J Cardiol. 1980 Dec 1;46(6):976-82. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(80)90354-9.
This study compared the noninvasive assessment of left ventricular function with radionuclide angiography with that obtained with ultrasonic sonomicrometry. Left ventricular ejection fraction and rate of ventricular ejection (dV/dt) were measured with both techniques over a wide range of ventricular function. Six dogs were prepared with epicardial crystals across the major and minor axes of the left ventricle, paired transmural wall thickness crystals and a left ventricular catheter. The animals were studied while awake after they had recovered from operation. Left ventricular volume was calculated from the ultrasonic sonomicrometric dimension measurements and the equation for a prolate ellipsoid; dV/dt was calculated from the stroke volume and ejection time. Radionuclide angiograms were performed using technetium-99m--labeled red blood cells and an Anger camera with a converging collimator interfaced to a computer programmed for multigated acquisition. A wide range of ventricular function was produced with sequential infusion of isoproterenol, propranolol, phenylephrine and sodium thiamylal. Ejection fraction and dV/dt were measured simultaneously during each intervention using the time-activity curves of the multigated radionuclide angiogram and ultrasonic sonomicrometric dimensions. Regression analyses demonstrated a close correlation between the simultaneous measurements of ejection fraction (r values ranged from 0.95 to 0.99) and dV/dt (r values ranged from 0.87 to 0.99). These data indicate that noninvasive multigated radionuclide angiography accurately assesses changes in ejection fraction and dV/dt over a wide range of ventricular function.
