[Normal cardiac diameters in cine-MRI of the heart]

To measure the normal diameters of cardiac cavities in standard cardiac views using cine MRI.

Fifty-six volunteers were examined (27 male, 29 female) on a 1.5 T MR unit with ECG-triggered single shot free precision (SSFP) cine MR sequences and parallel image acquisition. Standardized echocardiographic planes were used to depict the heart of all volunteers (short axis, 4-chamber view, left and right 2-chamber views). The different diameters of the cardiac cavities were measured using a fixed protocol.

For the estimation of ventricular dilatation, the important female/male cross diameters of the left ventricle are 45.2 +/- 3.4/51.6 +/- 4.6 mm diastolic and 30.5 +/- 3.5/33.8 +/- 3.6 mm systolic, and of the right ventricle 30.7 +/- 3.8/37.1 +/- 5.9 mm diastolic and 22.3 +/- 3.8/28.1 +/- 4.4 mm systolic. For the determination of a left ventricular hypertrophy, relevant septal wall thickness measured in the short axis of the left ventricle of female/male volunteers are 8.0 +/- 1.0/9.9 +/- 1.2 mm diastolic and 10.9 +/- 1.4/13.6 +/- 1.9 mm systolic. The measured normal values of male volunteers were generally higher than those of female volunteers. The thickness of the ventricular septum correlated well when measured in the short axis and 4-chamber view. When measured in the 4-chamber view, the longitudinal diameter of the ventricles had a higher value in diastole and a lower value in systole, compared to the 2-chamber views of the right and left cardiac cavities. The atrial longitudinal diameters were higher in the 4-chamber view compared to the 2-chamber views, without any difference in systole or diastole.

Diameters of cardiac cavities are easily and quickly measured. Using the tables with the normal values published here, it is simple to estimate an abnormal size of the heart.