title: Left ventricular mass by echocardiographic measures in children and adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent evidence in adults suggests that left ventricular mass measured as left ventricular mass/height predicts cardiovascular morbidity and mortality better than the two widely used indices, left ventricular mass/body surface area and left ventricular mass/height Standards of left ventricular mass/height have not been reported in children, for whom, owing to lack of significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, body mass index has traditionally been used as a potential cardiovascular risk factor.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective study, 692 clinically normal children aged 1 day to 18 years underwent detailed echocardiographic assessment to assess whether any of the left ventricular mass indices--left ventricular mass/height, left ventricular mass/body surface area, and left ventricular mass/height--are associated with obesity as measured by body mass index. Correlations, t-tests, and linear regressions were used for statistical testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Left ventricular mass/height was better correlated (R2 = 0.36) with body mass index than left ventricular mass/body surface area (R2 = 0.179) and left ventricular mass/height (R2 = 0.006), although all three dependent variables show a significant correlation (p < 0.035). In addition, a higher percentage of obese patients were noted to have elevated left ventricular mass as measured by left ventricular mass/height than by the other two methods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Left ventricular mass/height is a reliable indicator of obesity associated left ventricular hypertrophy. Left ventricular mass/height can be used conveniently during transitions from youth to adults for long-term follow-up. These findings support the importance of including left ventricular mass/height in future studies of cardiovascular risks and preventive strategies in children and adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. kemeht@ccf.org
authors.forename: Sudhir K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mehta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001830:Body Surface Area; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods