[Importance of echocardiography for the assessment of left-ventricular function and cardiac complications in dilative cardiomyopathy].

One- and two-dimensional echocardiographic findings in 17 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy were compared with haemodynamic and angiographic results of cardiac catheterization. In a further 52 unselected patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, who had been seen as out- or in-patients over a period of two years, the frequency of intracardiac thrombi was investigated echocardiographically. A significant correlation (r = 0.66 and r = 0.68) was found between echocardiographically determined left-ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes on the one hand and volumes determined angiographically on the other. However, ventricular volumes were clearly underestimated by echocardiography. In contrast, both methods showed good agreement for the magnitude of the ejection fraction (r = 0.79). The aortic valve opening surface estimated with one-dimensional echocardiography correlated with left-ventricular ejection volume (r = 0.93). Thrombi were demonstrated in 7 out of 52 patients: 5 were located in the left, one in the right and a further one in the central pulmonary vascular system. Considering the aforementioned limitations, echocardiography is a useful method for evaluation of left-ventricular function and for demonstration of intracardiac thrombi in dilated cardiomyopathy.