Cardiovascular MRI Reference Ranges for Heart, Aorta, and Pulmonary Artery in Healthy Chinese Children

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (cardiac MR) reference ranges in Chinese children are lacking. Purpose: To establish age- and sex-specific reference ranges for cardiac MR parameters in a cohort of healthy Chinese children. Study Type: Retrospective. SubjectsOne hundred ninety-six healthy children (mean age 9.5 +/- 3.6 years, 111 boys). Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5 T; balanced steady-state free precession. Assessment: Biventricular volume and ejection fractions (EF), left atrial (LA) volume, right atrial (RA) area, left ventricular (LV) mass and thickness, aortic root (AR), and main pulmonary artery (MPA) dimensions were measured. Parameters were compared between age groups and sex. The relationships between parameters and age, body mass index (BMI) and body surface area (BSA) were investigated. Statistical Tests: Independent-samples t tests; Pearson's correlation. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Generally, boys exhibited greater absolute measurements of LV volume (end-diastolic: 94.4 +/- 29.5 vs. 81.3 +/- 31.0 mL), LA volume (end-diastolic: 42.6 +/- 13.4 vs. 38.0 +/- 13.3 mL), RA area (end-diastolic: 11.6 +/- 2.5 vs. 10.8 +/- 2.6 cm(2)), LV thickness (base: 4.4 +/- 1.1 vs. 3.8 +/- 0.9 mm), AR dimensions (annuls: 16.3 +/- 2.7 vs. 15.0 +/- 2.8 mm), and MPA dimensions (14.3 +/- 2.3 vs. 13.1 +/- 2.4 mm) than girls did. However, these differences were not observed when the measurements were normalized to BSA (LV volume: 75.3 +/- 11.7 vs. 71.9 +/- 12.3 mL/m(2), P = 0.052; LA volume: 34.8 +/- 8.9 vs. 34.5 +/- 7.6 mL/m(2), P = 0.783; RA area: 9.7 +/- 2.3 vs. 10.2 +/- 2.3 cm(2)/m(2), P = 0.107; LV thickness: 3.6 +/- 0.7 vs. 3.6 +/- 0.9 mm/m(2), P = 0.990; AR: 13.6 +/- 2.7 vs. 14.3 +/- 3.4 mm/m(2), P = 0.108; MPA: 11.9 +/- 2.3 vs. 12.4 +/- 2.4 mm/m(2), P = 0.118). Boys had greater RV volume (end-diastolic: 98.7 +/- 33.5 vs. 82.7 +/- 33.1 mL) and LV mass (52.6 +/- 20.2 vs. 41.4 +/- 16.0 g) compared to girls, irrespective of whether the values were indexed or not for BSA. Additionally, there were significant associations between age, BMI, and BSA with biventricular volume, LA volume, RA area, LV mass and thickness, AR and MPA dimensions in both boys and girls. Data Conclusion: This study suggests reference ranges at 1.5 T for Chinese children.