The RATE LV NW Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Regional Assessment of The Evaluation of Left Ventricular systolic function in the North West of England: The RATE LV NW Study
IRAS ID
261696
Contact name
Martin Stout
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Manchester University Hospital FT
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
Echocardiography is an essential tool for diagnosing heart conditions and assessing heart function. In particular, the function of the left ventricle (LV), the heart’s main pumping chamber, is important when determining treatments. Accurate assessment of LV function is essential to providing appropriate care.
The two traditional and most widely used ways of assessing LV function are the visual ‘eye-ball’ assessment and the Biplane Simpson’s method; which involves using 2D images of the ventricle, tracing around the boarder of the cavity and calculating the volume of blood ejected from the heart.
Although these methods are widely used throughout the UK, they are both limited by variability and reproducibility issues; due to subjectivity, sonographer experience level and poor image quality.
Recent advances have led to novel, less subjective techniques for assessing LV function. However, these are not currently commonplace in the UK due to lack of awareness and slow uptake in the echocardiographic community.
The aim of this study is to assess, the variability and reproducibility of these traditional methods in real-life UK echocardiography centres, with the hope of determining their value in clinical practice. Demonstrating significant variation in assessment may contribute to future changes in guidelines and pave the way for adoption of alternative techniques.REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A