Background: Accurate assessment of left ventricular (LV) volumes provides important insights into myocardial function, being particularly important for diseases of the heart in which there is progressive dilatation of the LV, such as remodeling after myocardial infarction. We have recently validated a method for measuring LV volumes using gated positron emission tomography (PET) with oxygen-15 labeled carbon monoxide (C15O). The present study was performed to establish normal values for LV volumes, in absolute units, using this technique.
Methods: Forty subjects [21 males and 19 females; age 49 +/- 13 years (mean +/- SD), range 24-80; body surface area (BSA) range 1.50-2.18 m2] were studied. End diastolic (EDV) and end systolic volumes (ESV) were calculated by determining the edge of the end diastolic and end systolic blood pool images (obtained using PET with C15O) and summing the volume of the voxels comprising the blood pool.
Results: For the overall study population, EDV was 109 +/- 20 ml and ESV 37 +/- 12 ml. When stratified according to gender, these values were: in males, EDV was 117 +/- 18 ml and ESV 42 +/- 18 ml; in females, EDV was 100 +/- 19 ml and ESV 32 +/- 8 ml. The differences between gender groups (EDV: p = 0.0027, ESV: p = 0.0029) were eliminated when volumes were corrected for BSA.
Conclusions: These data will form a database of normal values for comparison with pathological conditions of the heart. PET quantification of LV volumes offers a means of measurement of function using an imaging modality that can also assess regional myocardial perfusion and metabolism during the same study session.