Computed Tomography and Echocardiography in Patients With Acute Pulmonary Embolism: Part 1 Correlation of Findings of Right Ventricular Enlargement

Purpose:To evaluate the correlation between the computed tomography (CT)-derived right ventricle (RV) to left ventricle (LV) diameter ratio and the RV size determined by echocardiography in patients with acute pulmonary embolism.Materials and Methods:Consecutive CT pulmonary angiography examinations (August 2003 to May 2010) from a single, large, urban teaching hospital were retrospectively reviewed. For a cohort of 777 subjects who underwent echocardiography within 48 hours of the CT acquisition, the qualitative RV size (divided into 5 categories) extracted from the echocardiography report was correlated with the CT-derived RV/LV diameter ratio.Results:There was moderate correlation (Spearman rank correlation coefficient=0.54, P<0.001) between the CT-derived RV/LV ratio and the RV size as determined by echocardiography. The correlation coefficient and the concordance rate were inversely related to the time difference between the acquisitions of the 2 modalities.Conclusions:CT and echocardiography findings to assess the RV size after acute pulmonary embolism have moderate correlation.