Background: Quantitative determination of ejection fraction is predicated on precise measurement of end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes of the left ventricle. Contrast enhanced electron beam tomography (EBT), with excellent temporal and spatial resolution, has the potential for highly accurate measures of ejection fraction.
Methods: EBT protocol used a short axis scan of the left ventricle (8-12 levels, apex to base) during infusion of iodinated contrast. To assess the accuracy of the measured left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), we compared EBT with first-pass radionuclide angiography (RNA) and cine angiography (CINE).
Results: A total of 41 patients (26 men and 15 women) underwent all three tests within 1 week. Resting ejection fraction using each modality was assessed in a linear regression model to assess inter-test correlation with the other two modalities. Correlation between CINE and EBT was high (r = 0.90, intercept 4.67, p < 0.001). Similarly, correlation of CINE and RNA (r = 0.87, intercept -5.48, p < 0.001) and between EBT and RNA (r = 0.87, intercept -4.6, p < 0.001) were high. In a subset of those patients with LVEF < or = 40%, correlation was consistently high between EBT and CINE. However, correlations were poor for the comparisons between RNA and CINE (r = 0.40), and between the RNA and EBT (r = 0.47). The mean differences of measured ejection fractions between each of the imaging modality were small. However, there was only modest agreement between each of the comparisons as measured using 95% confidence interval (CI) on Bland-Altman plots.
Conclusion: These data indicate that the LVEF results are comparable among EBT, RNA, and CINE and can be used interchangeably to assess ventricular function for LVEF > 40%. For LVEF < or = 40%, we demonstrated some disparate results between cine angiography and RNA and between EBT and RNA, indicating that CINE or EBT may provide more accurate assessment.