Echocardiographic chamber quantification in a healthy Dutch population

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Physiology

Background:

• Accurate echocardiographic interpretation relies on normative data from established guidelines.
• Clinical observations suggest current guidelines may not fully represent the Dutch population, with higher physiological values noted.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish normative echocardiographic values for cardiac chamber quantification in a healthy Dutch population.
• To identify the impact of baseline characteristics on these cardiac measurements.

Main Methods:

• Prospective recruitment of 147 healthy Dutch subjects (aged 20-72 years, balanced gender distribution).
• Comprehensive physical examination and both 2D and 3D echocardiography to assess ventricular and atrial dimensions and volumes.

Main Results:

• Echocardiographic linear and volumetric parameters were consistently higher than guideline recommendations, especially in older individuals.
• 3D echocardiography yielded higher volume measurements compared to 2D.
• Body surface area (BSA)-corrected volumes showed gender dependency, and ejection fractions decreased with age.

Conclusions:

• This study provides novel 2D and 3D echocardiographic reference ranges for the Dutch population.
• BSA-indexed volumes are gender-dependent; age did not significantly influence ventricular volumes.
• Increased right ventricular volumes were associated with higher blood pressure, potentially reflecting the taller stature of the Dutch population.