Relationship of pericardial effusion thickness and volume measurement by non-ECG gated computed tomography

Background: An accurate estimation of pericardial fluid volume could improve communication between radiologists and the multidisciplinary team. Objective: To find the correlation between the volume and thickness of pericardial effusion measured by CT scan. Materials and Methods: The chest CT scans of 38 patients with pericardial effusion were measured for volume using manual segmentation and for thickness on axial and 3-chamber planes from the anterior and posterior aspects. The correlation between volume and thickness was evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r). The reliability of the measurements was tested using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis. Results: There was a fair to moderately strong correlation between the volume and thickness of pericardial effusion (r= 0.435-0.625, p=