[Can Echocardiography Adjust Corrected Contrast Injection Condition in Coronary CT Angiography?].

Purpose: The purposes were to search which factor of cardiac function in echocardiography correlates with the CT value, to correct contrast injection conditions with cardiac function in addition to suppress error in the contrast effect between patients, and to achieve the target CT value (350 HU) in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA).

Methods: In 112 patients (conventional group), the contrast material was administered at a fractional dose (FD) of 21 mgI/kg/s. We measured the aortic CT value in the coronary origin part.

Impact of a training program incorporating cardiac magnetic resonance imaging on the accuracy and reproducibility of two-dimensional echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) is the most widely used parameter for clinical decision-making, but reproducibility and accuracy problems remain. We evaluated the usefulness of a novel training program based on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to obtain more reliable values of 2DE-derived LVEF and LV volumes.

Methods: Fifty-four sonographers from five hospitals independently measured LV volumes and LVEF using the same 2DE images from 15 patients who underwent CMR and 2DE.