Learning curve for quantification of right ventricular size and systolic function in pulmonary arterial hypertension: comparison of cardiac magnetic resonance and three-dimensional echocardiography

Background Quantification of right ventricular (RV) volumes is challenging, particularly in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) who often have dilated and dysfunctional RVs. Several studies have shown that cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) provide very reliable measurements of RV volumes when performed by experienced observers; however, little is known about the reliability and learning curve of these measurements when performed by novice observers. We sought to measure the interand intra-observer reliability of RV volume quantification by CMR and 3DE as it pertains to a novice observer with a progressive amount of experience over a 2 year period.