In vitro validation of right ventricular volume and mass measurement by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography

Objective: To evaluate initially the feasibility and accuracy of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE) for quantifying right ventricular (RV) volume and wall mass in an in vitro experimental study. Methods: In ten excised porcine hearts, measurements of RV volume and free wall mass with RT-3DE were outlined and calculated by 2-, 4-, 8- and 16-plane methods with Tom Tec 4D Cardio-View RT 1.0. The results were compared with those of 2D length method and 2D biplane Simpson method. The values of RV silicone latex cast and free wall mass measured by water displacement were served as reference values. Results: RV shapes of excised porcine hearts with RT-3DE were similar to those of the actual anatomic RVs and RV silicone latex casts. From the findings of analysis of variance and Student-Newman-Keuls test, there was no significant difference between measurements of RV volume with RT-3DE 16-plane (mean 64.05 ml), 8-plane (61.83 ml) and the reference values of RV silicone latex casts (62.94 ml). No significant difference was found between measurements of RV free wall mass with 16-plane (72.81 g), 8-plane (71.05 g) and the reference values of RV free wall masses (76.21 g). However, there was significant difference between measurements of RV volume and free wall mass with 2-plane, 2D biplane Simpson method and the reference values. Furthermore, the measurements of RV volume and free wall mass with 16-plane and 8-plane were better correlated with the reference values than those with 4-plane and 2D length method. Conclusions: RT-3DE will be a valuable technique for quantifying irregular crescentic RV volume and wall mass.