A MORPHOLOGICAL-STUDY OF THE NORMALLY AGING HEART

A morphological examination of aging was performed on 141 normal heart s selected from a total of 972 consecutive autopsies on persons aged 6 0 years or over. The average heart weight was 270 +/- 41 g. The circum ference of the valvular ring was 99 +/- 10 mm in the tricuspid valve, 68 +/- 8 mm in the pulmonic valve, 83 +/- 10 mm in the mitral valve, a nd 73 +/- 7 mm in the aortic valve. The thickness of the tricuspid val ve (anterior leaflet) was 0.9 +/- 0.3 mm, pulmonic (anterior cusp) 0.4 +/- 0.3 mm, mitral (anterior leaflet) 1.3 +/- 0.6 mm, and aortic (pos terior cusp) 1.0 +/- 0.6 mm. Cardiac chamber volumes were as follows: 40 +/- 14 mL in the right atrium, 22 +/- 7 mL in the right ventricle, 37 +/- 12 mL in the left atrium, and 7.3 +/- 3.4 mL in the left ventri cle. The circumference of the tricuspid ring was the largest. Left-sid ed valves were thicker than right-sided valves, and atrioventricular v alves were thicker than semilunar valves. Cardiac chamber volumes were generally larger on the right side. Because this study was limited to hearts from persons aged 60 years or over, age-related changes were o bserved in only four parameters: (i) the circumference of the aortic v alvular ring, (ii) the thickness of the aortic posterior cusp, (iii) t he thickness of the pulmonic anterior cusp, and (iv) the volume of the left ventricle. With increasing age the aortic valvular ring dilated, the aortic posterior cusp and the pulmonic anterior cusp thickened, a nd the left ventricular volume diminished.