Cardiac morphometry in healthy young Indian adult males: An evaluation of chamber thickness and left ventricular cardiac mass

Introduction: Measurement of cardiac chambers is an important tool in the assessment of cardiac disease. Cardiac imaging can be used for the accurate assessment of these parameters. The primary objective of this study is to estimate various clinically relevant cardiac measurements including the left ventricular (LV) myocardial mass using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI). The secondary objective is to correlate these measurements with the patient's body mass index (BMI). Material and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional observational study was done at a tertiary care hospital. A total of 100 healthy young Indian adult males between 18 and 30 years of age underwent cardiac MRI on a 1.5Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner. The thickness of various cardiac chambers and LV cardiac mass was measured. The results were compared with BMI. Results: Mean left atrial wall thickness is 1.6 mm in End -systole (ES)) and 1.5 mm in end diastole (ED). Mean Right atrial thickness is 1.5 mm (ES) and 1.8 mm (ED). Mean left ventricular wall thickness is 17.7 mm in End -systole (ES)) and 10.9 mm in end diastole (ED). Mean Right ventricular thickness is 6.9 mm (ES) and 3.2 mm (ED). Mean interventricular wall thickness is 14/9.7 mm in ES and ED, respectively. LV cardiac mass is 119.97 g. There is weak-to-moderate association between cardiac chambers and BMI. Discussion and Conclusion: Assessment of cardiac chamber thickness and LV cardiac mass in healthy adults can be made using CMRI. These values can be used as baseline to compare with measurements in various diseases of the heart.