Abstract
BackgroundReference values for morphological and functional parameters of the cardiovascular system in early life are relevant since they may help to identify young adults who fall outside the physiological range of arterial and cardiac ageing. This study provides age and sex specific reference values for aortic wall characteristics, cardiac function parameters and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) in a population-based sample of healthy, young adults using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.Materials and MethodsIn 131 randomly selected healthy, young adults aged between 25 and 35 years (mean age 31.8 years, 63 men) of the general-population based Atherosclerosis-Monitoring-and-Biomarker-measurements-In-The-YOuNg (AMBITYON) study, descending thoracic aortic dimensions and wall thickness, thoracic aortic PWV and cardiac function parameters were measured using a 3.0T MR-system. Age and sex specific reference values were generated using dedicated software. Differences in reference values between two age groups (25–30 and 30–35 years) and both sexes were tested.ResultsAortic diameters and areas were higher in the older age group (all p<0.007). Moreover, aortic dimensions, left ventricular mass, left and right ventricular volumes and cardiac output were lower in women than in men (all p<0.001). For mean and maximum aortic wall thickness, left and right ejection fraction and aortic PWV we did not observe a significant age or sex effect.ConclusionThis study provides age and sex specific reference values for cardiovascular MR parameters in healthy, young Caucasian adults. These may aid in MR guided pre-clinical identification of young adults who fall outside the physiological range of arterial and cardiac ageing.
Highlights
Despite improved understanding of its biological trail and the development of novel therapeutic strategies, atherosclerosis and its sequelae remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]
Aortic dimensions, left ventricular mass, left and right ventricular volumes and cardiac output were lower in women than in men
These may aid in magnetic resonance (MR) guided pre-clinical identification of young adults who fall outside the physiological range of arterial and cardiac ageing
Summary
Despite improved understanding of its biological trail and the development of novel therapeutic strategies, atherosclerosis and its sequelae remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. Due to its disease pattern and multi-organ involvement, atherosclerosis can be detected in a subclinical stage, allowing for pre-clinical identification of high-risk individuals. These may have early progressive deterioration of arterial and cardiac morphology and function that, while present, remains undetected [3]. Current pre-clinical identification of high-risk individuals is based on cardiovascular (CV) risk assessment by scoring algorithms of accumulated risk factors [4, 5]. Reference values for morphological and functional parameters of the cardiovascular system in early life are relevant since they may help to identify young adults who fall outside the physiological range of arterial and cardiac ageing. This study provides age and sex specific reference values for aortic wall characteristics, cardiac function parameters and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) in a population-based sample of healthy, young adults using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging
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