Assessment of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction by Acoustic Quantification: Comparison with Conventional 2- Dimensional Echocardiography

The purpose of this study was to compare the recently developed new and alternative echocardiographic acoustic quantification (AQ) method with conventional 2-dimensional (2-D) echocardiography in measuring left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Fifty two patients with a mean age of 57±9 having sufficient echocardiographic view and in sinus rythm were evaluated by 2-D echocardiography and AQ method using the apical 4-chamber and parasternal short axis positions during 5 cardiac cycles to establish the relationship between the two methods and to compare the variability of 2-D and AQ echocardiography in measuring LVEF in consecutive beats by the same physician. There was a good correlation between the measured values of LVEF in both positions using 2-D and AQ method (r=0.86, r=0.91, respectively), but a significant difference existed between conventional and AQ measurements of LVEF in the apical 4-chamber view (p<0.05). In contrast the difference and variability in LVEF measurement between each cardiac cyle was lower with AQ. In conclusion, the on-line assessment of LVEF by AQ is well-related to conventional -dimensional measurements and seems to have the avantage to reduce the difference between each measurement of consecutive beats and intraobserver variability.