MEASUREMENT OF INTRACARDIAC DIMENSIONS AND STRUCTURES IN NORMAL YOUNG-ADULT SUBJECTS BY TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has proven to be an excellent diagnostic means of diagnosing different cardiac diseases. To distinguish between normal and pathologic findings, standardized measurements of well-defined cross-sectional planes are necessary. Therefore, the 2-dimensional echocardiography data of 2S healthy volunteers were obtained. In 13 men and 12 women, aged 19 to 30 years, recordings of the left ventricular shortaxis view, the 2- or 4-chamber view with the left and right atria, the long axes of the left and right ventricles, the mitral and tricuspid valve ring and the atrial septum were analyzed. Furthermore, the aortic valve plane and the ascending and descending aorta were also measured. All data are given as mean values ± 2 times the standard deviation. Enddiastolic and end-systolic left ventricular anteriorto-posterior diameter of the left ventricular short axis was 2.S ± 0.3 cm/cm2 and 1.7 ± 0.3 cm/m2, with the fractional shortening ranging from 27 to 42%. The end-systolic lateral diameter was 2.4 ± 0.5 cm/m2 for the left atrium and 2.4 ± 0.4 cm/m2 for the right atrium, and the end-systolic anteriorto-posterior diameter was LS ± 0.6 cm/m2 for the left atrium and 2.1 ± 0.6 cm/m2 for the right atrium. End-diastolic diameters of 3.4 ± 0.6 cm/m2 and 2.8 ± 0.4 cm/m2 were obtained for the long axis of the left ventricle and for the right ventricle. Measurements ranged from LS to 2.2 cm/m2 for the end-diastolic diameter of the mitral ring and from 1.3 to 2.0 cm/m2 for the tricuspid ring. The area of the aortic valve plane was 4.0 ± 1.2 cm2/m2 and those of the ascending and the descending aorta were 3.6 ± 1.0 cm2/m2 and 1.9 ± 0.8 cm2/m2. The values of the left ventricular axis, the pulmonary artery stem and right pulmonary artery in TEE corresponded very closely to those gained from transthoracic echocardlography. The normal values obtained in healthy young subjects should be taken into account in the diagnostic decision making in heart patients. © 1990.