The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of an algorithm for automated measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) available on handheld ultrasound devices (HUDs). One hundred twelve patients admitted to the cardiology department underwent assessment performed with an HUD. In each case, the four-chamber apical view was obtained, and LVEF was calculated with LVivo software. Subsequently, during the examination performed with the use of the stationary echocardiograph, the 3-D measurement of LVEF was recorded. The average LVEFs measured with LVivo and the 3-D reference method were 46 ± 14% and 48 ± 14%, respectively. The correlation between the measurements obtained with the HUD and 3-D evaluation was high (r = 0.92, 95% confidence interval: 0.87–0.95, p < 0.0001). The mean difference between the LVEF obtained with LVivo and the 3-D LVEF was not significant (mean difference: –0.61%, 95% confidence interval: –1.89 to 0.68, p = 0.31). The LVivo software despite its limitations is capable of the accurate LVEF measurement when the acquired views are of at least good imaging quality.

本研究的目的是评估手持超声设备 (HUD) 上可用的左心室射血分数 (LVEF) 自动测量算法的准确性。入住心脏病科的 112 名患者接受了使用 HUD 进行的评估。在每种情况下，获得四腔心尖视图，并用 LVivo 软件计算 LVEF。随后，在使用固定式超声心动图进行检查期间，记录了 LVEF 的 3-D 测量值。使用 LVivo 和 3-D 参考方法测量的平均 LVEF 分别为 46 ± 14% 和 48 ± 14%。使用 HUD 获得的测量值与 3-D 评估之间的相关性很高（r  = 0.92，95% 置信区间：0.87–0.95，p< 0.0001)。使用 LVivo 获得的 LVEF 与 3-D LVEF 之间的平均差异不显着（平均差异：–0.61%，95% 置信区间：–1.89 至 0.68，p  = 0.31）。尽管 LVivo 软件有其局限性，但当获取的视图至少具有良好的成像质量时，它仍能够进行准确的 LVEF 测量。