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Relevance of Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Echocardiography for Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Assessment in Geriatric Patients

Relevance of Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Echocardiography for Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Assessment in Geriatric Patients

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07701369
Acronym
REFERENCE-AI
Enrollment
130
Registered
2026-07-14
Start date
2026-07-07
Completion date
2028-06-30
Last updated
2026-07-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Heart Failure

Keywords

Heart failure, Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Echocardiography, Artificial Intelligence, Echocardiography, Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction

Brief summary

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization among adults aged 80 years and older and represents a major diagnostic challenge in geriatric medicine due to frequently atypical clinical presentations and the presence of multiple comorbidities. Although transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) with measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) remains the gold standard for cardiac functional assessment, access to echocardiography is often limited in geriatric wards. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled the development of portable ultrasound devices and automated image analysis software capable of providing reliable and reproducible LVEF measurements. AI-assisted automated LVEF assessment (AutoEF-AI) may therefore represent a valuable alternative to conventional echocardiography for the cardiac evaluation of older patients with heart failure.

Detailed description

Prospective, single-center interventional study comparing two methods of left ventricular ejection fraction measurement in patients aged 75 years and older hospitalized for acute heart failure.Each hemodynamically stable participant will undergo two echocardiographic examinations performed within 24 hours: * Standard Echocardiography (Reference Method) * AI-assisted automated LVEF assessment (AutoEF-AI)

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTAutoEF-AI Assessment

Performed by a geriatrician who has completed a one-day practical training session and combines: * A handheld ultrasound device providing real-time image acquisition guidance for obtaining apical views. * Us2.ai software for automated LVEF analysis. The geriatrician is blinded to results of the gold standard echocardiography performed by the cardiologist.

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTStandard Echocardiography (Reference method)

The standard echocardiography will be performed by an expert cardiologist as part of routine clinical care and will serve as the gold standard

Sponsors

Gérond'if
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)

Intervention model description

Agreement between LVEF measured using AutoEF-AI and LVEF measured using standard echocardiography

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
75 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age ≥75 years. * Hospitalization in a geriatric unit for acute heart failure according to the 2021 ESC diagnostic criteria. * Hemodynamic stability at the time of echocardiographic examination. * Ability to understand study information, provide written informed consent, and willingness to participate. * Affiliation with, or beneficiary of, a health insurance/social security scheme.

Exclusion criteria

* Hemodynamic instability preventing echocardiographic assessment. * Contraindication to transthoracic echocardiography. * Patients under legal protection (guardianship, curatorship, or judicial protection measures) or unable to provide informed consent. * Refusal to participate in the study.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Agreement between LVEF measured using AutoEF-AI and LVEF measured using standard echocardiography.At baselineAgreement will be assessed using: * Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) * Spearman correlation coefficient * Bland-Altman analysis * Weighted kappa coefficient for the classification of patients according to LVEF categories (≤40%, 41-49%, and ≥50%)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Diagnostic performance of AutoEF-AI for the detection of LVEF <50%, including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy.At baselineCalculation of the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and overall accuracy of AutoEF-AI for identifying left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) below 50%, compared with the standard reference method.
Analysis of factors associated with agreement between the two methodsAt baselineMultiple linear regression model will be used to identify clinical and technical variables (age, sex, cardiovascular history, presence of a pacemaker, cardiac arrhythmias, image quality, comorbidities, etc.) associated with a significant discrepancy between LVEF measurements obtained using AutoEF-AI and standard echocardiography.
Feasibility of AutoEF-AI use by a geriatrician after a short training programAt baseline* Success rate of valid image acquisition (i.e acquizition of analyzable apical views suitable for automated analysis) * Quality of the acquired images (image quality score and proportion of non-analyzable images) * Difficulties encountered during the use of the AutoEF-AI device

Countries

France

Contacts

CONTACTIsabelle DUFOUR
isabelle.dufour@gerondif.org+33 (0) 185781011
CONTACTPrisca LUCAS, PhD MPH
prisca.lucas@gerondif.org+33 (0)185737323
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOROlivier HANON, MD PhD

Geriatric Department, Broca hospital

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jul 29, 2026