Advancing age is associated with a significant increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (r=0.28) and a decrease in end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes in subjects with normal cardiac function.
Cross-Sectional (n=183)
No
In healthy individuals, advancing age is associated with a significant decrease in ventricular volumes and a compensatory increase in ejection fraction, highlighting the need for age-adapted normal values in CMR.
Effect estimate: r=0.28
p-value: p=<0.001
BACKGROUND: The heart is subject to structural and functional changes with advancing age. However, the magnitude of cardiac age-dependent transformation has not been conclusively elucidated. METHODS: This retrospective cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) study included 183 subjects with normal structural and functional ventricular values. End systolic volume (ESV), end diastolic volume (EDV), and ejection fraction (EF) were obtained from the left and the right ventricle in breath-hold cine CMR. Patients were classified into four age groups (20-29, 30-49, 50-69, and ≥70 years) and cardiac measurements were compared using Pearson's rank correlation over the four different groups. RESULTS: With advanced age a slight but significant decrease in ESV (r=-0.41 for both ventricles, P<0.001) and EDV (r=-0.39 for left ventricle, r=-0.35 for right ventricle, P<0.001) were observed associated with a significant increase in left (r=0.28, P<0.001) and right (r=0.27, P<0.01) ventricular EF reaching a maximal increase in EF of +8.4% (P<0.001) for the left and +6.1% (P<0.01) for the right ventricle in the oldest compared to the youngest patient group. Left ventricular myocardial mass significantly decreased over the four different age groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The aging process is associated with significant changes in left and right ventricular EF, ESV and EDV in subjects with no cardiac functional and structural abnormalities. These findings underline the importance of using age adapted values as standard of reference when evaluating CMR studies.
Fiechter et al. (Thu,) conducted a cross-sectional in Normal structural and functional ventricular values (n=183). Advancing age vs. Younger age groups was evaluated on Correlation of left ventricular ejection fraction (LV-EF) with increasing age (r=0.28, p=<0.001). Advancing age is associated with a significant increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (r=0.28) and a decrease in end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes in subjects with normal cardiac function.