Normal values of echocardiographic measurements. A population-based study

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Public Health

Background:

• Echocardiography is crucial for assessing cardiac structure and function.
• Establishing population-specific reference ranges for echocardiographic measurements is essential for accurate diagnosis.
• Previous studies may not reflect the characteristics of the South Brazilian population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine echocardiographic measurements and left ventricular mass in a healthy adult population in Porto Alegre.
• To compare these findings with established international reference values.

Main Methods:

• A population-based, cross-sectional study involving 100 healthy adults from Porto Alegre.
• Multi-stage probability sampling was used for participant selection.
• M-mode, 2D echocardiography with color Doppler was performed on all participants.

Main Results:

• Males exhibited significantly larger measurements for aorta, left atrium, interventricular septum, left ventricle, and left ventricular mass compared to females.
• Right ventricle size was similar between genders.
• Interventricular septum, left posterior wall, and left ventricular mass measurements were lower than international reference limits.

Conclusions:

• The echocardiographic measurements for interventricular septum, left posterior wall, and left ventricular mass in this Porto Alegre population are lower than currently accepted international normal limits.
• These findings highlight the need for population-specific reference ranges in echocardiography.
• Further research is warranted to understand the implications of these lower reference values.