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A study of the relationship between the size of left ventricle (LV) aneurysm, the shape of the LV and its function, as assessed by three-dimensional motion and wall thickness, is presented. The study is based on data from 8 patients with fibrous left ventricular aneurysms who were imaged by ultrafast Cine-CT to obtain accurate geometry at end-diastole and end-systole. The aneurysm was defined as the thin region of the myocardium, and the function was assessed by wall thickening and endocardial motion. Local curvature was used to estimate the local load on the myocardium. The analysis shows that the anatomical aneurysm is surrounded by a large region of dysfunction which is subjected to high loads. >

It is shown that displaying and animating the dynamic, three-dimensional (3-D) shape of the beating heart, including the global layout of the coronary tree and the local shape of the stenosed vessel, can help in assessing the severity of coronary artery disease, particularly in cases where several vessels are obstructed. The coronary tree is superimposed on the 3-D shape of the heart by using the anatomical markers of the anterior and posterior interventricular grooves and the ventriculoatrial groove. The program is also geared to zoom in on the stenosis and yield a 3-D surface reconstruction of the stenosis from biplane angiography. When the obstruction in the vessel occurs near a bifurcation in the coronary tree, the 3-D shape of the stenosed area can be too complicated for reconstruction as a surface, and a voxel space model is used to reconstruct and display the entire region of the stenosis, including the bifurcation. The regional function of the heart, estimated by the local wall thickening, is color coded and displayed on the epicardial surface. >