Abstract Background Focused cardiac ultrasound (FCU) of the left ventricle (LV) is performed by non-cardiologists in critical care settings. Validity of measurements relies on accurate acquisition and measurement techniques. Hypothesis/Objectives Investigate the acquisition and measurement repeatability of selected LV parameters and report reliability compared with measurements made by a board-certified cardiologist, with the goal of identifying parameters that might warrant further investigation in FCU. Animals Thirty hemodynamically stable dogs with sinus cardiac rhythms. Methods Right-sided FCU was performed by 2 critical care clinicians and a cardiologist. Left ventricular (LV) diameters, fractional shortening, and E-point septal separation (EPSS) were recorded. Intra-operator acquisition repeatability was quantified by coefficients of variation (CVacquisition); inter-operator reliability (compared with the cardiologist) was described by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCinter-operator) and CVinter-operator; intra-operator measurement repeatability was described by ICCmeasurement. Results Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) in short-axis B-mode had excellent repeatability and reliability for both critical care clinicians (CVacquisition 10%; CVinter-operator 10%, ICCinter-operator 0.9; ICCmeasurement 0.9). Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter in short axis M-mode and long axis B- and M-mode showed good repeatability and reliability. E-point septal separation was neither repeatable nor reliable. Conclusions and clinical importance The LVEDD measurements were repeatable and reliable when obtained and measured by 2 non-cardiologists in hemodynamically stable dogs with normal sinus rhythms. Further study of LVEDD measurements is recommended in FCU. The EPSS cannot be recommended based on these data.
Kennedy et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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