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V Capkun

Publications and source records attributed to V Capkun.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Perfect-mixer retention function by analytical deconvolution of tracer histograms: application to evaluation of left-ventricular contractility and competence.

The analytical solution for the perfect-mixer retention function, r(t), was developed from tracer histograms sampled at the system input, i(t), and its output, y(t), linked by the convolution integral y = i * r. Theories were developed for both continuous-output mixer and pulsatile, discrete mixer. The latter method was applied in first-pass radioangiography (FPRA) to calculate the forward ejection fraction of the left ventricle (LVFEF). Curves generated over the lungs and the ventricle provided system input and output respectively. LVFEF correlated strongly with the reference values obtained with simultaneously acquired gated FPRA(LVGEF) in 32 non-regurgitant patients: LVGEF = 0.90LVFEF + 5.93, r = 0.96, SEE = 3.98, p less than 0.001. In 14 patients with left-side valvular incompetence LVFEF values (0.41 +/- 0.13) were consistently lower than the corresponding LVGEF values (0.63 +/- 0.11). The method is free from instability inherent in numerical deconvolution. Applied in FPRA it yielded accurate estimates of LV contractility and competence. The continuous-mixer theory may apply to arbitrary compartmental models studied via tracer kinetics.

Adolescent

A critical approach to gamma variate fit of radionuclide-angiography pulmonary histograms.

Radionuclide-angiography (RNA) left-to-right intracardiac-shunt quantification algorithms, based on the part-by-part fit technique and the use of a so-called gamma variate model function (GVF), were tested via simulation analysis using data obtained from normal subjects. A good bolus of radioindicator was obtained by administering it directly into the vena subclavia. Normal subjects were defined as those having pulmonary histograms (PH) with no visible distortion caused by a shunt. Pure, non-superimposed data on the downslope of the PH curves, which are lost in presence of a shunt, proved to be appropriate reference values for testing the accuracy of results of standard shunt quantification algorithms. A generalized four-parameter GVF was introduced in order to extend the flexibility of the model function. The use of the three-parametric GVF to reconstruct the downslope of the PH curve out of the upslope data proved to be inadequate. This reveals an evident source of error in algorithms that calculate the shunt contribution by fitting GVF parameters to so-called difference-curve data. It is concluded that the inherent restricted statistical weight of RNA data prevents accurate results being obtained from standard RNA-shunt-assessment algorithms.

Heart Septal Defects