A New Method for Automatically Tracing Left Ventricular Pressure-volume Loops by Acoustic Quantification and Computer Techniques

To develop a new method for automatically tracing left-ventricular pressure-volume loops(P-VLs),echocardiography and left heart catheterization were performed simultaneously in 38 cases with heart diseases.The left ventricular volume curves displayed by acoustic quantification technique and the left ventricular pressure curves recorded by calheterization were inputted into a computer system and P-VLs were automatically traced by a self-made software program.The result showed that P-VLs depict specific left ventricular functional patterns in different heart diseases and offer comprehensire and accurate quantification of the left ventrieular systolic and diastolic function.It is concluded that our method provides a simple,reproducible and reliable technique for automatically tracing P-VLs and hence should faciliate further investigation of the left ventricular function in clinical practice. Key words: left ventricular pressure-volume loop acoustic quantification echocardiography eardiac catheterization