Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 May;89(5):544-9.
doi: 10.1136/heart.89.5.544.

Left atrial and left ventricular function in healthy children and young adults assessed by three dimensional echocardiography

T Poutanen  1 , E Jokinen, H Sairanen, T Tikanoja
Affiliations

Left atrial and left ventricular function in healthy children and young adults assessed by three dimensional echocardiography

T Poutanen et al. Heart. 2003 May.

Abstract

Objective: To establish normal values of left atrial and left ventricular volumes and function in children and young adults using three dimensional echocardiography (3DE).

Methods: 169 healthy subjects aged 2 to 27 years were studied by digitised 3DE. 3DE was achieved using rotational acquisition of planes at 18 degrees intervals from the parasternal view for the left atrium and from the transthoracic apical view for the left ventricle with ECG gating and without respiratory gating. Left atrial and left ventricular volumes could be calculated throughout the heart cycle, and the respective time-volume curves were reconstructed in each subject.

Results: For the analysis the subjects were divided into five groups according to body surface area: 0.5-0.75 m2, 0.75-1.0 m2, 1.0-1.25 m2, 1.25-1.5 m2, and over 1.5 m2. Mean (SD) left atrial maximum volume/body surface area was 19.6 (3.5), 21.7 (3.7), 22.0 (4.7), 24.5 (4.8), and 27.4 (6.4) ml/m2; left ventricular maximum volume/body surface area was 50.1 (8.8), 54.9 (10.1), 56.4 (9.9), 58.7 (11.0), and 64.4 (10.3) ml/m2. Left atrial active emptying increased from 19% to 35% with age (r = 0.34, p < 0.001) and with decreasing heart rate (r = -0.28, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Transthoracic 3DE is well suited for studying the phasic changes in left atrial and left ventricular volumes in young children as well as in adults. The data obtained from 169 healthy subjects will serve as a reference for further studies in patients with various cardiac abnormalities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Averaged left atrial and left ventricular time–volume curves during the heart cycle in five body surface area groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age related changes in left atrial active emptying (AE%) and passive emptying (PE%) percentages. Left atrial AE% and PE% were calculated for 0.1 m2 body surface area groups (six to 21 subjects per group, mean age of group 2.8–17.9 years).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gutgesell HP. Echocardiographic assessment of cardiac function in infants and children. J Am Coll Cardiol 1985;5:95–103s. - PubMed
    1. Pearlman JD, Triulzi M, King ME, et al. Left atrial dimensions in growth and development: normal limits for two-dimensional echocardiography. J Am Coll Cardiol 1990;16:1168–74. - PubMed
    1. Hofstetter R, Bartz-Bazzanella P, Kentrup H, et al. Determination of left atrial area and volume by cross-sectional echocardiography in healthy infants and children. Am J Cardiol 1991;68:1073–8. - PubMed
    1. Magorien D, Shaffer P, Bush C. Assessment of left ventricular pressure–volume relations using gated radionuclide angiography, echocardiography and micromanometer pressure recordings: a new method for serial measurements of systolic and diastolic function in man. Circulation 1983;67:844–53. - PubMed
    1. Fujita N, Hartiala J, O’Sullivan M, et al. Assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in dilated cardiomyopathy with cine magnetic resonance imaging: effect of an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, benazepril. Am Heart J 1993;125:171–8. - PubMed

Publication types