Shape and motion analysis of left ventricle dyssynchrony from real-time 3D echocardiography

The diagnosis of left ventricular mechanical dyssynchrony (LVMD) and identifying cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) candidates are challenging problems due to the limitation of the currently applied regional volume-curve analysis. In this study, four-dimensional (4D, 3D+time) left ventricle (LV) regional shape models of 26 LVMD patients were constructed from pre- and/or post- CRT real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE) datasets that include 9,900 traced slices on 663 cardiac phases. The shape model analysis based on principal components were compared to volume curve model analysis. The results suggested that the 4D shape modal indices correctly capture LVMD motion patterns and their relative changes after CRT, comparably to the volume curve analysis, and they are also likely to capture unique LVMD shape and motion features that cannot be found by volume curve analysis.