Echocardiographic measurements of the aorta in normal children and young adults.
BACKGROUND
To be able to determine aortic valve and ascending aorta pathology, especially aortic root dilatation, it is important to establish normal aortic dimensions. The aim of the study was to measure the dimensions of the aorta in normal healthy children and young adults in Slovakia.


METHODS
702 healthy subjects, from newborns to 20 years of age, were examined at our institution. The study was carried out prospectively, by a single observer, using digitized two-dimensional (2D), Doppler and M-mode echocardiography. The aorta was measured at 3 sites: 1. aortic valve annulus, 2. sinuses of Valsalva, 3. sinotubular junction. Patients were divided into 28 groups according to their body surface area (BSA)--from 0.15 to 2.0 m2. All data were statistically evaluated (mean value, 5th and 95th percentile for all BSA groups) and regression equations were calculated for each parameter.


RESULTS
All 3 measured aortic parameters correlated closely. Measures of correlation (R-squared) for aortic parameters with the square root of BSA were high: 0.89 for aortic valve annulus, 0.86 for sinuses of Valsalva and 0.86 for sinotubular junction (Tab. 3, Fig. 7, Ref 13). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk
Kaldararova
M
M
Children's Cardiac Center of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava, Slovakia. kaldararova@dkc-sr.sk
Balazova
E
E
Tittel
P
P
Stankovicova
I
I
Brucknerova
I
I
Masura
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values