Assessment of right ventricular function with 320-slice volume cardiac CT: comparison with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

To evaluate the accuracy and feasibility of right ventricular function parameters measurement using 320-slice volume cardiac CT. Retrospective analysis of 50 consecutive patients (23 men, 27 women) with suspected pulmonary diseases was performed in electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated cardiac CT and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Parameters including right ventricular end-diastolic volume (RVEDV), right ventricular end- systolic volume (RVESV), right ventricular stroke volume (RVSV), right ventricular cardiac output (RVCO), and right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) were semi-automatically and separately calculated from both CT and CMR data. Significant difference between measurements was measured by paired t test and two-variable linear regression analysis with Pearson's correlation coefficient. Bland-Altman analysis was performed in each pair of parameters. There was little variability between the measurements by the two observers (kappa=0.895-0.980, P<0.05). There was good correlation between all parameters obtained by CT and CMR (P<0.001): RVEDV (108.5±21.9ml, 113.5±24.8ml, r=0.944), RVESV (69.8±33.4ml, 73.2±35.4ml, r=0.972), RVSV (39.0±13.2ml, 40.2±13.3ml, r=0.977), RVCO (2.6±0.7l, 2.6±0.7l. r=0.958), RVEF (38.8±19.1%, 39.1±19.3%, r=0.990), and there was no significant difference between CT and CMR measurements in RVEF (n=50, t=-0.677, P>0.05). 320-slice volume cardiac CT is an accurate non-invasive technique to evaluate RV function.