Assessment of left ventricular volume and function by integration of simplified 3D echocardiography, tissue harmonic imaging and automated extraction of endocardial borders.

Background: Quantitative three-dimensional echocardiography (3DEcho) of left ventricle (LV) is still limited because of the need for manually tracing endocardial borders: this can increase observer variability depending on the quality of fundamental (FUND) 2D images. We tested the combination of a simplified 3DEcho technique for LV reconstruction with automated endocardial border detection (Digital Echo Quantification, DEQ) and tissue harmonic imaging (THI) for enhancement of endocardium-cavity interface.

Methods: Twenty-five consecutive patients with ischaemic heart disease and dilated or distorted LV underwent 3DEcho and gated-SPECT nuclear examinations evaluating: (a) end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (EDV, ESV); (b) ejection fraction (EF); (c) volume/time curve (VTC).

[Echocardiography with reconstructed M-mode: technical aspects and clinical applications].

Reconstructed M-mode imaging is a new post-processing technique that permits the reconstruction of any cardiac structure and flow from cine-loops of different sources (tissue, color Doppler and tissue Doppler cine-loops) in M-mode format. This technique can be useful in a number of clinical situations and can facilitate the echocardiographic examination, allowing for correct and easy M-mode analysis to be performed at any time, both at the patient's bedside as well as off-line. In this paper the fundamental technical features and current clinical applications of reconstructed M-mode imaging are illustrated and discussed.