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Effects of aging on left ventricular structure and function.

A C Pearson1, C V Gudipati, A J Labovitz

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, St. Louis University Medical Center, Mo.

American Heart Journal
|March 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Aging significantly alters cardiac diastolic function, increasing atrial contribution to ventricular filling. Echocardiography reveals thicker posterior walls in older adults, but no significant changes in left ventricular mass index or stroke volume.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Gerontology
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • Cardiac structure and function undergo changes with aging.
  • Understanding age-related cardiac alterations is crucial for distinguishing normal aging from disease.
  • Doppler echocardiography is a key tool for assessing cardiac hemodynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize age-associated cardiac structural and functional changes.
  • To compare echocardiographic parameters in young and elderly healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

  • Doppler-echocardiography performed on 23 young (mean age 25) and 30 elderly (mean age 70) healthy subjects.
  • Measurement of left ventricular dimensions, wall thickness, and mass index.
  • Assessment of stroke volume via Doppler-measured aortic flow and diastolic filling via mitral inflow.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Elderly subjects showed significantly greater posterior wall thickness (1.0 vs 0.8 cm) and relative wall thickness (0.42 vs 0.35).
  • No significant difference in left ventricular mass index (89 vs 77 gm/m2) or shortening fraction/stroke volume between groups.
  • Aging dramatically altered diastolic filling: elderly demonstrated doubled percent atrial contribution (37% vs 19%) and halved peak early-to-peak atrial velocity ratio (0.85 vs 1.77).

Conclusions:

  • Aging is associated with increased left ventricular wall thickness but not necessarily increased mass index in healthy individuals.
  • Key age-related changes include impaired diastolic filling, characterized by a greater reliance on atrial contraction.
  • These findings highlight specific cardiac functional adaptations to aging detectable by Doppler echocardiography.