ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF CARDIAC FUNCTION AFTER INFARCTION IN MICE: VALIDATION OF SINGLE-PLANE LONG-AXIS VIEW MEASUREMENTS AND THE BI-PLANE SIMPSON METHOD

Although echocardiography is commonly used to analyze cardiac function in small animal models of cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction, the different echocardiographic methods are validated poorly. End-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume and ejection fraction were analyzed using either standard single-plane analysis from parasternal long-axis B-mode views (PSLAX) or the bi-plane Simpson method (using PSLAX and three short-axis views) and validated using magnetic resonance imaging as standard. Ejection fraction measured by PSLAX was moderately correlated with a coefficient of R-2 = 049. The standard deviation of residuals was 9.91. Simpson analysis revealed an improved correlation coefficient of R-2 = 0.77 and a reduction in standard deviation of residuals by 45% (5.45 vs. 9.92, p = 0.014). Subgroup analysis revealed that the high variation in PSLAX is due to changes in ventricular geometry after myocardial infarction. Our results indicate that the bi-plane Simpson method is advantageous for the assessment of cardiac function after myocardial infarction. (E-mail: heinen@hhu.de) (C) 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. All rights reserved.