FACTORS PREDICTING THE DIAMETER OF THE POPLITEAL ARTERY IN HEALTHY HUMANS

Purpose: To determine the relevance of popliteal dilatations, knowledg e of the normal popliteal artery diameter is essential. This study inv estigates the diameter of the popliteal artery in healthy males and fe males. Methods: me measured the diameter of the popliteal artery in 12 1 healthy volunteers (59 males and 62 females), ages 8 to 81, with ech o-tracking B-mode ultrasonography. We analyzed the influence of age, s ex, height, weight, body surface area (BSA) and systolic blood pressur e with a multiple regression model. Results: The popliteal artery incr eased steadily in diameter throughout life. From 25 years on, the diam eter was larger in males; than in females. If corrected for BSA, this difference decreased from 17% to 7%. This study found a correlation be tween popliteal artery diameter and BSA (r = 0.47 and r = 0.61, respec tively, P < 0.0001). Age, followed by BSA, was the most influencing fa ctor on popliteal diameter in both males and females (r = 0.62 and r = 0.66, respectively, p < 0.0001). We used age and BSA in creating a mo del for prediction of popliteal artery diameter. Conclusions: The diam eter of the popliteal artery increases with age, initially during grow th, but also in adults. This is related to age, body size and sex, wit h males having larger arteries than females. It is now possible to pre dict the normal popliteal arterial diameter, and nomograms are present ed for use in the study of aneurysmal arterial disease.