Abstract
Guidelines for the transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) assessment of pericardial effusion size rely on linear measurements of the largest width of the effusion at end diastole. 1 Klein Klein A.L. Abbara S. Agler D.A. Appleton C.P. Asher C.R. Hoit B. et al. American Society of Echocardiography clinical recommendations for multimodality cardiovascular, imaging of patients with pericardial disease. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2013; 26: 965-1012 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (424) Google Scholar Using this system, effusion sizes are graded as small (<10 mm), moderate (10-20 mm), or large (>20 mm). This classification system is subject to potential errors due to variations in heart size, shifts in fluid location during the cardiac cycle, and the highly asymmetric nature of many effusions. Guidelines do not specify which view to use for measurements or how to deal with asymmetric fluid collections. There is limited research on using volumetric approaches to estimating pericardial effusion size. 2 Prakash A.M. Sun Y. Chiaramida S.A. Wu J. Lucariello R.J. Quantitative assessment of pericardial effusion volume by two-dimensional echocardiography. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2003; 16: 147-153 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar , 3 Khosraviani K. Goldberg Y. Salari B. Nezami N. Peng C.F. Taub C.C. The biplane modified Simpson's method accurately estimates pericardial effusion volume: a comparison with pericardiocentesis. Echocardiography. 2015; 32: 1215-1220 Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar , 4 Leibowitz D. Perlman G. Planer D. Gilon D. Berman P. Bogot N. Quantification of pericardial effusions by echocardiography and computed tomography. Am J Cardiol. 2011; 107: 331-335 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (16) Google Scholar We hypothesized that a quantitative assessment of pericardial effusion volume would be superior to conventional linear measurements of effusion size. We compared the two approaches to the actual volume of the effusion determined at the time of pericardial drainage.
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