Quantitative echocardiographic analysis of the right ventricle in healthy individuals

Abstract

Introduction: Three-dimensional echocardiography and Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) are new technologies for evaluation of right ventricular (RV) size and function, but little is known about the differences of these measurements in men and women of different age groups, and how these differences can be adjusted.

Methods: In all, 54 healthy participants, mean age 59 years (range: 21-86), underwent resting echocardiography, including 3-dimensional echocardiography and DTI.

Results: There were significant differences in RV end-diastolic volume between men and women (129 +/- 25 vs 102 +/- 33 mL, P < .01). Adjusting to lean body mass, but not the body surface area or height, eliminated this difference (2.1 +/- 0.5 vs 2.2 +/- 0.4 mL/kg, P = not significant). DTI demonstrated that RV time to peak systolic velocity, late diastolic basal velocity, and peak systolic strain were significantly affected by increasing age (r = -0.53, P < .0001; r = 0.58, P < .0001; and r = -0.35, P < .05, respectively).

Conclusion: Echocardiographic measures of RV size are significantly different in men and women, and indexing to lean body mass appears to be more effective than indexing to body surface area. DTI is feasible, but the amount of variation found in the measurements may be a limiting factor in the clinical application of the technology.