Title: Comparison of Left Ventricular Volumes Measured by 3DE, SPECT and CMR
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Information regarding left ventricular (LV) volume and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) has major diagnostic and prognostic value when assessing patients after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).We aimed to investigate the agreement between measurement of LV volumes and LVEF by three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in patients in a stable phase after STEMI.METHODS: Fifteen patients underwent examinations by 3DE, SPECT and CMR three months after STEMI.RESULTS: There was a significant bias in end-diastolic volume (EDV) measured by 3DE (-64 mL, p < 0.001) and SPECT (-55 mL, p < 0.001) compared with that measured by CMR.This was also the case for end-systolic volume (ESV) measured by 3DE (-36 mL, p < 0.001) and SPECT (-28 mL, p < 0.001).No significant differences were found between 3DE and SPECT for EDV or ESV.However, LVEF did not differ between the three methods.The agreement between all three methods was moderate (intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.44) for LV volume and good for LVEF (ICC = 0.72).CONCLUSIONS: LV volumes assessed by 3DE did not differ from SPECT, and despite larger LV volumes by CMR, measurements of LVEF showed good agreement between all three methods.