How large is the heart of a child?

A team of researchers has for the first time established reference values for ventricular size and mass of children and adolescents / this simplifies therapy decisions for children with heart disease.

In a research project of the Competence Network for Congenital Heart Defects gender- and age-group-specific reference values were ascertained for ventricular size and mass of children and adolescents aged from 8 to 20 years. “The new reference values simplify therapy decisions for children with heart disease, as a more precise assessment of the heart can be made,” explains Project Manager Dr. Samir Sarikouch from the Medical University Hanover. A report on these findings appears on 19 January 2009 in Circulation Cardiovascular Imaging.

In the study the international research team discovered by means of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging that hearts vary even in childhood, depending on gender. Standard values for healthy hearts are depicted in the form of reference percentiles, according to those already known from other areas of pediatric and adolescent medicine. Investigators can use these new reference values in the future to better assess whether a change in the heart is outside the normal range and whether it has to be treated. This applies both to children and adolescents with congenital heart defects and to those whose hearts were previously healthy and who have become acutely ill, for example, due to an inflammation of the heart muscle. These reference values can also be used to ascertain more precisely the time period for therapy. A follow-up study, which will be used to ascertain standard values for babies and small children, is currently being planned.

Sarikouch S, Kühne T, Peters B, Gutberlet M, Leismann B, Kelter Kloepping A, Koerperich H, Beerbaum P. Sex-Specific Pediatric Percentiles for Ventricular Size and Mass as Reference Values for Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Appears on 19 January 2010 in Circulation Cardiovascular Imaging, Issue 7.

More information about the magnetic resonance imaging research project Magnetic resonance imaging