COMPETENCY IN PATIENT CARE AND PROCEDURAL SKILLS:
Original InvestigationNormative Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Parameters and Reference Intervals in Infants
Central Illustration
Section snippets
Data source
The CBHS is a prospective population-based cohort study of cardiac structure and function from infancy onward. Enrollment in the CBHS was open to all infants born in the 3 main maternity wards in the Copenhagen metropolitan area of Denmark between April 2016 and October 2018. Detailed descriptions of the CBHS’s design and baseline characteristics have previously been published.15,16 Parents were informed about the study at the routine ultrasound scan offered to all pregnant women during
Results
The study population included 13,454 newborns (Figure 1). Maternal and newborn characteristics of the study population are presented in Table 1. Median age at TTE was 12 days for both boys and girls (IQR: 8-15 days and 8-12 days, respectively); the distribution of age at examination was similar for both sexes (Supplemental Figure 2). Overall, 17.4% (n = 2,342) of the study cohort were 0 to 6 days of age at TTE, 49.8% (n = 6,699) were 7 to 13 days old, 21.8% (n = 2,931) were 14 to 20 days old,
Discussion
We estimated BSA- and age-specific reference intervals and z-scores for 10 echocardiographic measures of LV dimensions and function based on >13,000 healthy newborns. Sex-specific differences in estimated parameters were minimal. In contrast, we found that differences between LV parameters measured in the first week of life and those measured in subsequent weeks were so large that separate reference intervals were required for these 2 periods. The Central Illustration presents an example of z-
Conclusions
We present reference intervals and z-scores for 10 LV echocardiographic parameters based on a cohort of 13,454 healthy children examined in the first 30 days of life, filling a pressing need for echocardiographic reference material for infants. Normative data are crucial to the evaluation and optimal management of patients with heart disease, and our results provide a useful tool for evaluating LV echocardiographic measurements in newborns.
Funding Support and Author Disclosures
This work was supported by the Danish Heart Foundation, the Lundbeck Foundation, King Christian X’s Foundation, Carl and Ellen Hertz’s Foundation for Danish Medical and Natural Sciences, and The Hede Nielsen Family Foundation. The funders played no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of manuscripts; or in decisions to publish results. The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this
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Drs Boyd and Bundgaard share last authorship.