Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Volume Determination by Direct Measurements of the Major and Minor Axes : SYMPOSIUM ON EVALUATION OF CARDIAC FUNCTIONS THROUGH NON-INVASIVE TECHNIQUES

Major and minor axes of the left ventricle were measured by single beam echocardiography in ten cardiac patients and the measurements and calculated volumes by formula V=pi/6 D2 were compared with the angiocardiographic estimates. There was a favorable correlation between echocardiographic and angiocardiographic major axis dimention (r=0.79), left end-diastolic volume (r=0.96), and ejection fraction (r=0.81). On the contrary, left end-diastolic volume calculated by formula V=D3 was less correlated with angiocardiographic estimates (r=0.93) and the former had a tendency to overestimate the volumes where D exceeded 6.5 cm. These data indicate that in cases with markedly enlarged left ventricle, the use of formula V=pi/6 D2L is a more accurate predictor of volumes than formula V=D3.