Rapid and accurate quantification of right ventricular volume and stroke volume by real-time 3-dimensional triplane echocardiography

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that 3-Dimensional (3-D) echocardiography can determine right ventricular (RV) volume accurately. However, this technique has not been feasible in everyday clinical practice because of the necessity of time-consuming off-line processes. HYPOTHESIS: A newly developed real-time 3-D triplane echocardiography, which acquires 3 apical rotational cross-sectional images simultaneously, holds the promise to resolve these problems. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixteen excised formalin fixed porcine hearts and 24 healthy human subjects underwent real-time 3-D triplane echocardiography. In an anatomic in vitro study, the actual volume of RV was obtained by spilling water in the RV cavity into a graduated cylinder for measurement, which served as a reference standard for comparison. For healthy subjects, the RV stroke volume (SV) was measured by triplane echocardiography which was compared with the left ventricular (LV) SV obtained by conventional 2-Dimensional echocardiography (2-DE). Excellent correlation and agreement between 3-D triplane imaging derived RV volume and the actual one for excised porcine hearts were observed (r = 0.979, p < 0.001, mean difference 2.2 mL). In healthy human subjects, good correlation and agreement between 3-D triplane imaging derived RV SV and LV SV measured by 2-DE were obtained (r = 0.970, p < 0.001, mean difference 5.9 mL). CONCLUSIONS: Real-time 3-D triplane echocardiography provides us a new method for rapid and accurate quantification of RV volume. Furthermore, this new method holds the promise for evaluating RV volume and SV in routine clinical practice. Copyright (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.