Department of Radiology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2016 Oct 12;11(10):e0164480. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164480. eCollection 2016.
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.
In 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.
Aortic 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.
This 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.
心血管系统形态和功能参数的参考值在早期生命中很重要，因为它们可能有助于识别出那些不符合动脉和心脏老化生理范围的年轻人。本研究使用磁共振（MR）成像技术，为基于人群的健康年轻成年人队列中主动脉壁特征、心功能参数和主动脉脉搏波速度（PWV）提供了年龄和性别特异性的参考值。
在基于人群的动脉粥样硬化监测和生物标志物测量在年轻人（AMBITYON）研究中，随机选择了 131 名年龄在 25 至 35 岁之间（平均年龄 31.8 岁，男性 63 名）的健康年轻成年人，使用 3.0T MR 系统测量降主动脉的尺寸和壁厚度、胸主动脉 PWV 和心功能参数。使用专用软件生成年龄和性别特异性的参考值。测试了两个年龄组（25-30 岁和 30-35 岁）和两性之间的参考值差异。
主动脉直径和面积在年龄较大的组中更高（均 p<0.007）。此外，女性的主动脉尺寸、左心室质量、左心室和右心室容积以及心输出量均低于男性（均 p<0.001）。对于平均和最大主动脉壁厚度、左和右射血分数以及主动脉 PWV，我们没有观察到年龄或性别效应。
本研究为健康年轻白种成年人的心血管 MR 参数提供了年龄和性别特异性的参考值。这些参考值可能有助于在 MR 引导下识别出不符合动脉和心脏老化生理范围的年轻成年人。
