AGE AND BODY-SURFACE AREA RELATED NORMAL UPPER AND LOWER LIMITS OF M MODE ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS AND LEFT-VENTRICULAR VOLUME AND MASS FROM INFANCY TO EARLY ADULTHOOD

Background-M Mode echocardiograms can be measured by two different con ventions. In addition, normal limits of echocardiographic measurements have customarily been stratified according to age or body surface are a. There is therefore a need to develop a more easily managed approach to calculating normal limits of measurements for the two conventions, one of which, the Penn convention, has not previously been used for e chocardiographic measurements in children. Methods-M mode echocardiogr ams were recorded in 127 healthy subjects aged from 7 months to 19.5 y ears. Measurements were made from paper recordings according to the re commendations of the American Society of Echocardiographers and those of the Penn convention. Results-Age and body surface area were found t o be highly correlated; but for completeness separate age dependent an d body surface area dependent equations for the normal limits of M mod e echocardiographic variables were developed. Conclusion-A set of age dependent equations and a set of body surface area dependent equations are presented for easy calculation of upper and lower limits of norma l M mode echocardiographic variables in infants and children.