Left-ventricular peak ejection rate, filling rate, and ejection fraction--frame rate requirements at rest and exercise: concise communication.

The effect of framing rate on the measurement of left-ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF), peak ejection rate (PER), and peak filling rate (PFR) was evaluated at rest and during exercise in 11 normal subjects and 21 patients who underwent gated equilibrium blood-pool imaging. Left-ventricular time-activity curves were obtained in each subject, at rest and during stress, at temporal resolutions of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 msec per frame. Ejection fraction, PER, and PFR were determined for each frame duration. By observing changes in the measured values of these quantities with framing rate we conclude that: a) for the measurement of EF, 50 msec per frame at rest and 40 msec per frame at exercise is sufficient; b) PER requires 40 msec per frame at rest and 20 msec per frame during exercise; and c) for the measurement of PFR, at least 40 msec per frame at rest and 20 msec per frame during exercise are needed. These results should hold for both first-pass and gated equilibrium studies.