Age-dependency of left ventricular shape measured from real-time 3D echocardiographic images

Combined assessment of left ventricular (LV) shape and function could provide new insights into the process of LV remodeling. Real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE) allows rapid and accurate semi-automated extraction of LV endocardial surfaces. Our aims were to quantify LV morphology both globally, using conical (C) and spherical (S) indexes, and locally, studying the mean curvature, in a large set of normal subjects in order to define normal values and test their age-dependency.