Normalized Echocardiographic Values From Guideline-Directed Dedicated Views for Cardiac Dimensions and...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Biostatistics

Background:

• Continuous technological advancements and evolving recommendations for echocardiography image acquisition necessitate updating normal reference ranges.
• The optimal method for indexing cardiac volumes remains undetermined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide updated normal reference data for cardiac chamber dimensions and volumes, and central Doppler measurements using 2D and 3D echocardiography.
• To evaluate different indexing methods for cardiac volumes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized comprehensive echocardiography data from 1,412 healthy individuals (55.8% women) in the HUNT study (Norway).
• Indexed volumetric measures to body surface area and height raised to powers of 1 to 3.
• Presented normal reference data stratified by sex and age.

Main Results:

• Established sex- and age-specific normal reference data for echocardiographic dimensions, volumes, and Doppler measurements.
• Identified lower normal limits for left ventricular ejection fraction (50.8% women, 49.6% men).
• Found that indexing to height cubed explained more inter-sex variation in cardiac dimensions than indexing to body surface area.

Conclusions:

• Presents updated normal reference values for left- and right-sided cardiac structures and function in a large, diverse population.
• Highlights the importance of updating reference ranges due to refined echocardiographic methods, noting higher upper limits for left atrial volume and right ventricular dimensions.