Determination of left ventricular volumes by ultrasound.

We compared dimensions of the left ventricular minor axis (S) measured at enddiastole (SD) and end-systole (Ss) by echocardiography with dimensions and left ventricular volumes measured by biplane angiocardiography in 27 patients with diverse cardiac abnormalities. There were high correlations between echographic and angiographic ventricular minor-axis dimensions (r 0.85 for SD and 0.87 for SS), between echographic dimensions and ventricular volumes (r =0.84 for end-systolic volume [ESV] and ss, 0.83 for end-diastolic volume [EDV] and SD), and between the relative change in the echographic minor axis with systole (%; A S) and ejection fraction (r =0.79). Regression formulae were derived from these relationships which allowed calculation of ventricular volumes from echo dimensions alone: ESV = 47 SD -120, EDV = 59 SD153. These equations allowed relatively accurate prediction of volumes over a wide range of ventricular sizes. The use of a cube function of the echographic minor axis was an accurate predictor of volumes only in smaller ventricular chambers, but overestimated volumes in larger hearts.