QUANTITATION OF LEFT-VENTRICULAR VOLUMES AND EJECTION FRACTION BY BIPLANE TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY

Transthoracic echocardiography has been reported to be a useful noninvasive method for quantitative assessment of left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction.1-6 Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been used to provide an assessment of LV wall motion and thickness. 7-10 TEE would be expected to be useful for quantitative assessment of volumes and ejection fraction, especially with use of the biplane probe, with nearly orthogonal cross sections.11, 12 The accuracy of TEE may be limited by the inability to image the true apex with foreshortened cross sections. This study assesses the accuracy of biplane TEE for estimation of LV volumes and ejection fraction in comparison with that of transthomcic echocardiography. © 1993.