[Dumesnil's method: is it viable?]. / La méthode de dumesnil: est-elle fiable?

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) is an indicator of left ventricular systolic function and is a potent predictor of cardiovascular mortality. LVEF is assessed by a variety of methods, however echocardiography is the most used in clinical practice. Simpson biplane multiple disc method (BMDM) is recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography; Dumesnil's method based on doppler echocardiography seems to be simpler and theoritically less influenced by distortion of LV geometry. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: To assess the accuracy and reproducibility of Dumesnil's method a group of 100 patients proposed for coronarography with left ventricular angiography, prospectively underwent LVEF measurements by both BMDM and Dumesnil's method. RESULTS: Compared with LV angiography, the correlation coefficient for the Dumesnil's method was r = 0.85 and it was r = 0.9 for BMDM. Correlation in patients with LV regional asynergy were respectively r = 0.69 and r = 0.85. Intraobserver and interobserver variabilities were less then 7% for both echocardiographic methods. CONCLUSION: Although Dumesnil's method is less accurate than BMDM, it is simpler, more rapid with a satisfactory reliability and reproducibility.