Radionuclide left ventricular absolute volume determination by ejection fraction measurement data and a left posterior oblique blood pool image

A new method for the calculation of left ventricular volumes called the 'semi-geometric' method, was reported by Nichols et al in 1984. This method, however, still had certain limitations for practical use. This paper describes a modified semi-geometric method in which the left ventricular volume was obtained from conventional left ventricular ejection fraction measurement data collected from the modified left anterior oblique position with a caudal tilt of 10 degrees or more and a left posterior oblique blood pool image. The left ventricular end-diastolic volumes obtained by this method were compared with those calculated by combining the thermodilution cardiac output and the left ventricular ejection fraction. The correlation coefficient was r=0.93 (n=20). In the phantom experiment, the true volumes and those obtained by this method showed an excellent correlation (r=0.99). This method is considered accurate and practical. (author)