Echographic determination of left ventricular volumes in pediatric patients.

The purpose of this study was to validate the accuracy of determining left ventricular (LV) volumes by echocardiography in infants and children. Thirty-one patients between the ages of two months and 15 years underwent left ventriculography (biplane antero-posterior and lateral cine). Ventricular volumes using an ellipsoidal model were calculated for end diastole from the cineangiograms. There was a strong correlation (r = 0.856) between the echographic minor dimension (Be) and the minor lateral cine dimension (Bc) at end diastole. A similar correlation (r = 0.889) existed between the LV volume in end diastole measured by cineangiography and Be. The correlation coefficient between the echo minor dimension and the lateral minor cine dimension in end systole was 0.753. A relation between ejection fraction (EF) and the echo minor dimension measurements in end diastole and end systole was formulated, which permitted estimation of the EF from the echo measurements. As a result of this study, it was concluded that the LV minor dimension can be measured reliably by echocardiography in children and from these measurements LV volumes, ejection fraction, and hence, stroke volume can be estimated.