This paper presents a 3D echocardiographic image segmentation procedure based on deformable surfaces. We first propose to adapt filtering techniques to the cylindrical geometry of several 3D ultrasound image devices. Then we compare the effect of different external forces on a surface template deformation inside volumetric echocardiographic images. An original method involving region grey-level analysis along the model normal directions is described. We rely on a priori knowledge of the cardiac left ventricle shape and on region grey-level values to perform a robust segmentation. During the deformation process the allowable surface deformation is modified. Finally, we show experimental results on very challenging sparse and noisy images and quantitative measurements of the left ventricle volume.