Clinical Investigation
Echocardiographic Reference Values in Different Populations
Echocardiographic Measurements in Normal Chinese Adults Focusing on Cardiac Chambers and Great Arteries: A Prospective, Nationwide, and Multicenter Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2015.01.022Get rights and content

Background

Currently available echocardiographic reference values are derived mainly from North American and European population studies, and no echocardiographic reference values are available for the Chinese population. The aim of this study was to establish normal values of echocardiographic measurements of the cardiac chambers and great arteries in a nationwide, population-based cohort of healthy Han Chinese adults.

Methods

A total of 1,586 healthy Han Chinese volunteers aged 18 to 79 years were screened at 43 collaborating laboratories throughout China. Standard M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography was performed to obtain measurements of the cardiac chambers and great arteries. The impacts of gender and age on all echocardiographic measurements were analyzed.

Results

A total of 1,394 qualified healthy subjects (mean age, 47.3 ± 16.0 years; 678 men) were ultimately enrolled. Except for left ventricular ejection fraction, values of cardiac chamber and great arterial dimensions were significantly higher in men than in women. Most measurements of the atrial and great arterial dimensions, left ventricular wall thickness, and left ventricular mass increased with age in both men and women.

Conclusions

Normal reference values of cardiac dimensional parameters were established for the first time in a nationwide, population-based cohort of healthy Han Chinese adults. Because most of these parameters were found to vary with gender and age, reference values stratified for gender and age should be used in clinical practice.

Section snippets

Study Population

The EMINCA study was initially designed to enroll a total of 1,320 healthy Han Chinese volunteers aged 18 to 79 years, who were divided into six age groups: 18 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70 to 79 years (n = 220 in each group, 50% men). All participating echocardiographic laboratories were to be from the tertiary hospitals of all provinces and municipalities throughout China except Taiwan and should be accredited by the Chinese Society of Ultrasound in Medicine. The

Study Population

We initially screened 1,586 subjects, and a total of 1,394 healthy volunteers who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were ultimately enrolled from 43 collaborating laboratories. There were 678 men aged 47.1 ± 16.2 years and 716 women aged 47.5 ± 15.8 years. Demographic data and a total of 34 echocardiographic parameters were obtained from these subjects.

Demographic Features

As shown in Table 1, the mean values of height, weight, body mass index, BSA, SBP, and DBP were significantly higher in men than in women

Discussion

In the present study, normal reference values of a total of 34 echocardiographic parameters focusing on the cardiac chambers and great arteries were reported from 1,394 healthy Han Chinese adults enrolled at 43 collaborating laboratories throughout China, and the impacts of gender and age on all echocardiographic parameters were analyzed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first prospective, comprehensive, nationwide, multicenter study to define the normal reference values in a large

Conclusions

The EMINCA study is the largest prospective, nationwide, multicenter study, which has established normal reference values of 34 cardiac chamber and great arterial dimensions in healthy Han Chinese adults. Most of the chamber and great arterial dimensions were found to vary with gender and age, and thus reference values stratified for gender and age are recommended for clinical use.

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    This work was supported by research grants from the National 973 Basic Research Program (grants 2011CB503906, 2012CB518603, and 2013CB530703), the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (grant 2012AA02A510), the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (grant B07035), the State Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China for Innovative Research Group (grant 81321061), the State Key Program of National Natural Science of China (grant 61331001), the International Collaboration and Exchange Program of China (grant 81320108004), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 81425004, 91339109, 81173251, 81270350, 81300234, 81300217, 81100147, 81170136, 81170275, and 81270403).

    Drs G.-H. Yao, Y. Deng, and Y. Liu contributed equally to this work. See the Appendix for a list of EMINCA investigators.

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