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Morphological and Functional Assessment of the Right Ventricle Using 3D Echocardiography
07:11

Morphological and Functional Assessment of the Right Ventricle Using 3D Echocardiography

Published on: October 28, 2020

Normal right and left ventricular mass development during early infancy

James J Joyce1, Patricia I Dickson, Ning Qi

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, UCLA School of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA. jjoyce1@tulane.edu

The American Journal of Cardiology
|March 17, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Newborns have a larger right ventricle and smaller left ventricle compared to adults, a ratio that shifts as the left ventricle grows and the right ventricle shrinks in early infancy. This highlights significant early-life cardiac remodeling.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Neonatal Physiology
  • Cardiac Development

Background:

  • Neonatal cardiac morphology differs significantly from adult patterns.
  • Understanding these early changes is crucial for diagnosing congenital and acquired heart conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the differences in right and left ventricular mass between newborns and adults.
  • To describe the early postnatal changes in ventricular mass.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of ventricular mass indexed to body surface area in a cohort of newborns.
  • Comparison of neonatal data with established adult reference values.

Main Results:

  • Newborns exhibit a right ventricular mass approximately 20% above adult levels.
  • Neonatal left ventricular mass is about 30% lower than adult levels.
  • The right-to-left ventricular mass ratio is significantly higher in newborns than adults.

Conclusions:

  • The neonatal heart undergoes rapid and distinct structural changes post-birth.
  • Left ventricular mass increases postnatally, while right ventricular mass decreases.
  • These findings provide a normative reference for early cardiac development.

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