Comparison of manual and semiautomatic detection of the endocardium in determination of left- and right ventricular volume ejection fractions (VEF) using MRI at 1.0T

Methods: In 22 patients with varying cardiac diseases endocardial borders were detected either manually or semiautomatically (seeded ROI) and subsequently the right and left ventricular volume ejection fractions were computer-calculated. Two investigators defined the endocardial borders for both ventricles using both methods. For statistical analysis two-factorial analyses of variance were performed for the four variables: VEF right ventricle, VEF left ventricle, required time right ventricle, required time left ventricle (SAS, Anova). Results: There was no user or method effect detectable for both ventricles. The required time for both ventricles also did not reveal a user effect, but there was a dramatic method effect concerning a reduction of the required time for analysis for both ventricles >50%. (orig.)