title: Determination and distribution of left ventricular size as measured by noncontrast CT in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Left ventricular (LV) volume and mass have prognostic relevance. Overall size of the left ventricle as it appears in noncontrast CT is a composite of the ventricular volume and myocardial mass. We describe a method to estimate the LV size using a single cross-section in noncontrast CT and determined normal ranges on the basis of a large population cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis with 6814 participants from 4 ethnicities who were free of known cardiovascular disease and enrolled between 2000 and 2002 form the basis of our analysis. LV size was calculated from a single cross-sectional slice obtained by either nonenhanced electron beam or multidetector CT. LV size was adjusted to body surface area to obtain the LV size index, which was adjusted for age, sex, race or ethnicity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant differences in LV size index by race which were further influenced by age and sex. Higher values were noted in men in all ethnic groups across all age groups. Similarly, LV size index uniformly decreased with age across all ethnic and sex categories. Caucasians had the lowest and African Americans had the highest LV size index across all age and sex categories. In multivariate regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, race or ethnicity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and diabetes mellitus, the significant differences were noted between male vs female (median difference, 17.5 cc/m(2); P < .001), ethnic groups (Caucasian, reference group; Asian, 3.7 cc/m(2); African American, 8.3 cc/m(2); and Hispanic, 5.6 cc/m(2); P < .001), and age groups (45-54 years, reference group; 55-64 years, -5.2 cc/m(2); 65-74 years, -11.4 cc/m(2); and 74-84 years, -12.5 cc/m(2)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides normative values for LV size as determined from a single, nonenhanced CT cross-section and indexed to body surface area, and it demonstrates that the LV size index varies by age, sex, and ethnic background.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. Electronic address: wqureshi@wakehealth.edu.
authors.forename: Waqas T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Qureshi
authors.affiliation: High-risk Cardiovascular Disease Clinic, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, FL, USA; Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Preventive Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Khurram
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nasir
authors.affiliation: Los Angeles Biomedical Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Yalcin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hacioglu
authors.affiliation: Knight Cardiovascular Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Sibley
authors.affiliation: Los Angeles Biomedical Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Mohit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Preventive Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA; South Beach Preventive Cardiology, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Preventive Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blumenthal
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Los Angeles Biomedical Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Budoff
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000208:ethnology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D012016:Reference Values; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
keywords: CT; Ethnicity; Left ventricular size; Noncontrast CT; Normative values; Reference measures