Pre-TAVI aortic annulus sizing: comparison between manual and semi-automated new generation software measurements in operators with different experience

OBJECTIVES: Aim of the study is to compare manual and semi-automatic measurements for aortic annulus assessment among different operators. METHODS: Eighty patients who underwent TAVI were retrospectively enrolled. The measurements manually performed by an experienced reader for aortic annulus (minimum and maximum diameters, perimeter, area), annulus-to-coronary ostia distance and time needed for the whole evaluation, were collected. The same operator (observer 1) and two less experienced readers (observer 2 and 3, with >5 years and 1 year of experience, respectively) assessed the same measurements using a semi-automatic software. Differences between manual and semi-automatic measurements, reading time and suggested valves size derived by CT were compared. RESULTS: Very good correlations were found between manual and software-aided measurements for aortic annulus area and perimeter in comparison with standard measurements for the three readers (ICC range 0.81–0.98). Good correlations were found for the distance with coronary ostia(0.75–0.79). The same area-derived prosthesis size for manual and semi-automatic measurements was selected in 96% of cases for observer 1; very good correlations were also found for observer 2 and 3 (ICC = 0.89 and 0.88, respectively). Using semi-automatic measurements, the mean time needed for CT images was significantly lower for observers 1 and 2 (1.50 and 1.72versus 3.14 min), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-TAVI CT using semi-automatic software allows accurate and reproducible measurements, reducing reconstruction time up to 50% and is reliable even for operators with different experience. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: The use of semi-automatic dedicated software for CT in TAVI planning is reliable even for operators without long time experience and allows accurate and reproducible measurements improving pre-TAVI workflow.