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Percentile curves for left ventricle structural, functional and haemodynamic parameters obtained in healthy children and adolescents from echocardiography-derived data

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Abstract

Background

Transthoracic echocardiography is the most common non-invasive technique for the study of the left ventricle (LV) and the proximal aorta. Despite the clinical value, there is scarcity of data about reference intervals (RIs) and percentiles for thoracic aorta dimension and LV structural and functional parameters, obtained from population-based studies in children and adolescents. The aim was to generate RIs for LV, haemodynamic and thoracic aorta parameters obtained from transthoracic echocardiography in healthy children, adolescents and young adults from a South-American population.

Methods

One thousand ninety-five healthy subjects (5–24 years) were studied (M-mode, B-mode and Doppler echocardiography).

Results

RIs for LV structural (diameters, volumes and wall thickness) and functional (stroke volume, cardiac output, cardiac index, transmitral E and A flow waves velocities) parameters; systemic vascular resistance and aortic root diameter were obtained using parametric regression analyzes based on fractional polynomials. Covariate analysis (i.e., adjusting for age, body surface) showed that specific sex-specific RIs were necessary. Then, age, body height (BH), body weight (BW), body surface area (BSA), and sex-specific 1st, 2.5th, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th, 97.5th and 99th percentiles were obtained. Our results were in agreement with and complimentary to available international databases.

Conclusion

This study provides RIs for echocardiography-derived haemodynamic, LV (structural and functional) and aortic parameters in children, adolescents and young adults considering data obtained from the largest Argentinean database. In early stages of life an adequate interpretation of echocardiography-derived LV and aortic parameters requires considering age, BH, BW, BSA and/or sex-specific RIs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de La Salud, UNICEN-CONICET, 4 de Abril 618, 7000, Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

    Alejandro Díaz

  2. Physiology Department, School of Medicine, Centro Universitario de Investigación, Innovación y Diagnóstico Arterial (CUiiDARTE), Republic University, General Flores 2125, 11800, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Yanina Zócalo & Daniel Bia

Authors
  1. Alejandro Díaz
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  2. Yanina Zócalo
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  3. Daniel Bia
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Correspondence to Alejandro Díaz.

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Alejandro Diaz, Yanina Zocalo, and Daniel Bia declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and later versions.

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Díaz, A., Zócalo, Y. & Bia, D. Percentile curves for left ventricle structural, functional and haemodynamic parameters obtained in healthy children and adolescents from echocardiography-derived data. J Echocardiogr 18, 16–43 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-019-00425-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-019-00425-0

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