ABSTRACT
In order to explore the influence of age and some related factors on cardiac dimensions,more than 300 healthy adults 20-81(average 46?16)years old were studied by echocardiography. By stepwise regression analysis and multiple covariance analysis,it was shown that the left ventricular wall thickness increased with age gradually,but no significant change was found in the diastolic left ventricular internal diameter.The ratio of the interventricular septum(IVS)/left ventricular posterior wall(LVPW)thicknesses increased with age,sug- gesting that the increment of thickness of IVS appeared more than that of LVPW,so that the left ventricular outlet decreased slightly with aging.The left atrium,aortic root and right ventricular chamber were found to be dilated slightly with advance in age.The diastolic mitral valve EF slope reduced with aging,probably reflcting the decrease of left ventricular compli- ance and of elasticity of the valve. In addition,it was also found that there was a sexual difference in some cardiac measurements,and many cardiac dimensions correlated with body size and blood pressure. The sources of differences in cardiac dimensions among various age groups and the rela- tionship among cardiac dimensions were analysed and discussed. In conclusion,the effects of age,sex,body size and blood pressure should be considered in clinical evaluation of cardiac dimensions by echocardiography.