Determination of right ventricular volume by two-dimensional echocardiography with a crescentic model.

Right ventricular volume in 14 fixed hearts from dogs was determined by echocardiography with an algorithm that takes into consideration the crescentic shape of the right ventricular (RV) cross-sectional area. To validate this model the volumes obtained by echocardiography were compared with volumes obtained by water displacement of silicone casts of the same 14 hearts. A strong linear correlation was demonstrated between the echocardiographic volumes and the volumes obtained by water displacement of RV casts (r = 0.96). The results also showed that the echocardiographic volume determination underestimated the RV volume obtained from cast with an almost constant ratio averaging 0.755 as a result of the exclusion of the RV outflow tract volume from the echocardiographic model. We conclude that a crescentic model allows accurate echocardiographic determination of RV volume.