title: Comprehensive analysis of left ventricular geometry and function by three-dimensional echocardiography in healthy adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent European Association of Echocardiography and American Society of Echocardiography guidelines on three-dimensional echocardiography state that normal values of left ventricular (LV) parameters for age and body size remain to be established.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 226 consecutive healthy subjects (125 women; age range, 18-76 years), comprehensive three-dimensional echocardiographic analyses of LV parameters were performed, and values were compared with those obtained by conventional echocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Upper reference values (mean+ 2 SDs) for three-dimensional LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were 85 and 34 mL/m(2) in men and 72 and 28 mL/m(2) in women, respectively. Indexing LV volumes to body surface area did not eliminate gender differences. Lower reference values (mean - 2 SDs) for ejection fraction were 54% in men and 57% in women and for stroke volume were 25 and 24 mL/m(2), respectively. Upper reference values for LV mass were 97 g/m(2) in men and 90 g/m(2) in women and for end-diastolic sphericity index were 0.49 and 0.48, respectively. Significant age dependency of LV parameters was identified and reported across age groups. Three-dimensional echocardiographic LV volumes were larger, ejection fraction was similar, and LV stroke volume and mass were significantly smaller in comparison with the corresponding values obtained by conventional echocardiography.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The investigators report a comprehensive analysis of LV geometry and function using three-dimensional echocardiography in a relatively large cohort of healthy Caucasian subjects with a wide age range. These may serve to establish age-specific and gender-specific reference ranges, which are crucial for the routine implementation of three-dimensional echocardiography to detect LV remodeling and dysfunction in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Denisa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muraru
authors.forename: Luigi P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Badano
authors.forename: Diletta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peluso
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dal Bianco
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Casablanca
authors.forename: Gonenc
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kocabay
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zoppellaro
authors.forename: Sabino
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iliceto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012984:Software; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric