Quantitative assessment of tricuspid regurgitation using right and left ventricular stroke volumes obtained from equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography

Abstract

Quantitative assessment of valve regurgitation using volumetric method by comparing right and left ventricular stroke volumes is still under investigations. To investigate the accuracy of equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography (ERV) for the quantification of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) severity. Thirty-three patients (25 men; mean age 63 ± 10 years) who underwent both ERV and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) studies within 2 weeks for right ventricular systolic function assessment were eligible for inclusion. Patients with significant mitral regurgitation by TTE were excluded of the study. TR was calculated using the proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) method from TTE and the volumetric method (right ventricular stroke volume minus left ventricular stroke stroke volume) from ERV. TR tended to be higher using the ERV volumetric method as compared to PISA method (48 ± 36 vs. 43 ± 31 ml, respectively; P = 0.06). There was a significant correlation between TR as assess by ERV and by TTE ( r = 0.8, P < 0.001; Fig. 1 ). Intraclass correlation coefficient between TTE and ERV for TR quantification was 0.9 ( P < 0.001). TR assessment using the ERV correlates well with PISA from TTE in patients referred for right ventricular systolic function assessment.