ORIGINAL PAPER Assessment of left ventricular function: comparison of cardiac multidetector-row computed tomography with two-dimension standard echocardiography for assessment of left ventricular function Darpan Bansal Æ Robin M. Singh Æ Mrinalini Sarkar Æ Ravi Sureddi Æ Kelly C. Mcbreen Æ Timothy Griffis Æ Anjan Sinha Æ Jawahar L. Mehta Received: 10 December 2006 / Accepted: 5 July 2007 / Published online: 16 August 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract Objective To compare global Left Ventricular (LV) systolic function assessment by 16-detector row Computed Tomography (MDCT) with Two-Dimen- sional Standard Echocardiography (2DSE) in a routine cardiology practice setting and to ascertain the degree of correlation between LV volumes and measurements obtained by 2DSE with those mea- sured by MDCT. Methods In 52 patients with suspected coronary artery disease, a contrast enhanced MDCT study was performed using retrospective gating without dose modulation for better endocardial delineation. Eight phases of the cardiac cycle were analyzed to identify the end-diastolic and end-systolic phases. 2DSE was performed on the same day. Left ventricular systolic and diastolic volumes and ejection fraction were calculated in 4-chamber, 2-chamber and biplane (average of the two) views. Endocardial tracing was used to measure ventricular volumes by area length method for CT and Simpson’s method for echocardiography. Results On MDCT, mean LV ejection fraction (LVEF) in 4-chamber, 2-chamber and biplane views were 58.4 ± 12, 59.3 ± 12 and 59.7 ± 12% respec- tively. On 2DSE, mean LVEF in 4-chamber, 2- chamber and biplane views were 58 ± 14, 57 ± 16 and 58 ± 13% respectively. LVEF correlated best using the biplane views (r = 0.59 and P < 0.01) compared to 2-chamber (r = 0.57 and P < 0.01) and 4-chamber views (r = 0.32 and P = 0.02). Biplane measurement by these two techniques correlated well for LV volumes in both diastole (r = 0.69 and P < 0.01) and systole (r = 0.73 and P < 0.01), although MDCT consistently gave higher values. Conclusions MDCT can be a useful tool to measure LVEF while patients are undergoing CT coronary angiography. Keywords Computed tomography  Echocardiography  Left ventricular ejection fraction Abbreviations Bip Biplane CAD Coronary artery disease CMRI Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging LV Left ventricle LVEF Left ventricular ejection fraction LVEDV Left ventricular end-diastolic volume LVESV Left ventricular end-systolic volume MDCT Multi-detector row computed tomography D. Bansal and R. M. Singh––These authors contributed equally to the manuscript D. Bansal  R. M. Singh  M. Sarkar  R. Sureddi  K. C. Mcbreen  T. Griffis  A. Sinha  J. L. Mehta (&) Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Arkansas Cardiology and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Slot 532, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA e-mail: MehtaJL@uams.edu 123 Int J Cardiovasc Imaging (2008) 24:317–325 DOI 10.1007/s10554-007-9252-6