Cardiac morphology and function reference values derived from a large subset of healthy young Caucasian adults by magnetic resonance imaging.
OBJECTIVE
Assessment of cardiac anatomy and function by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is accurate and reproducible and is commonly performed to clarify borderline results obtained by other techniques. Normal reference values are lacking in a large sample of young healthy adults. As CMR is increasingly solicited to discriminate normality from equivocal disease in this population, we sought to determine reliable reference values.


RESULTS
A sample of 434 Caucasian adults aged 26 ± 4 years (45% male) without cardiovascular disease or risk factors (including obesity and smoking) underwent CMR. Blood pressure, electrocardiogram, and plasma markers (lipid profile, fasting glucose, troponin, and Nt-pro-BNP) were within normal limits and typical of a low-cardiometabolic-risk profile. End-diastolic (ED), end-systolic (ES), and stroke volumes were greater in men for left and right atria and ventricles. Left ventricular (LV) mass was higher in men. ED wall thickness of all segments was greater in men, whereas ES wall thickening (segmental function) was similar in both genders. After normalization to body surface area, all gender differences remained. Left and right ventricular volumes were lower, and left atrial volumes were higher in older individuals. In contrast, LV mass was not associated with age.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first large database of reference ranges for ventricular and atrial functions, volumes, and mass in young Caucasian men and women devoid of cardiovascular disease and risk factors. These data will contribute to improving the accuracy of CMR interpretation for clinical and research applications.
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (CRIUCPQ), and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, QC, Canada G1V 4G5.
Florent
F
Le Ven
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (CRIUCPQ), and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, QC, Canada G1V 4G5.
Karine
K
Bibeau
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (CRIUCPQ), and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, QC, Canada G1V 4G5.
Élianne
É
De Larochellière
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (CRIUCPQ), and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, QC, Canada G1V 4G5.
Helena
H
Tizón-Marcos
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (CRIUCPQ), and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, QC, Canada G1V 4G5.
Stéphanie
S
Deneault-Bissonnette
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (CRIUCPQ), and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, QC, Canada G1V 4G5.
Philippe
P
Pibarot
Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), Montréal, QC, Canada.
Christian F
CF
Deschepper
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (CRIUCPQ), and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, QC, Canada G1V 4G5 eric.larose@criucpq.ulaval.ca.
Éric
É
Larose
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016275:Atrial Function / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012015:Reference Standards; D012737:Sex Factors; D016276:Ventricular Function / Q000502:physiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
mass; normal values; systolic function; volume; wall thickness/thickening