title: Assessment of age-related changes in left ventricular structure and function by freehand three-dimensional echocardiography.
abstract: To determine age-related changes in left ventricular (LV) structure and function, the authors used freehand three-dimensional echocardiography, a previously validated tomographic technique, to measure LV mass, volumes, and derived parameters in 94 sedentary, but ambulatory and clinically healthy, adult male and female volunteers aged 20-94. LV volumes and mass were significantly greater in men than in women (p<0.001) and remained greater after adjustment for body surface area and height (p<0.05). Declines in end-diastolic and stroke volumes with age were reduced or absent after accounting for body size. By multivariate analysis, age accounted for only about 6%-11% of the variance among LV volumes and mass, in comparison with body surface area and gender, which accounted jointly for about 46%-77% of the variance. In conclusion, changes occur in LV structure and function with normal aging, but these changes are relatively minor when body size and gender are taken into account.
authors.affiliation: College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 11034, USA.
authors.forename: Michel G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Khouri
authors.forename: Mathew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.forename: Lyna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: El-Khoury Rumbarger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000886:Anthropometry; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*