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Abstract
Left ventricular relative wall thickness, expressed as the ratio of enddiastolic radius
to wall thickness (R/Th ratio), has a constant relation with left ventricular systolic
pressure in children and adults with a normal heart, subjects with physiologic forms
of cardiac hypertrophy (athletes) and patients with compensated chronic left ventricular
volume overload (chronic aortic regurgitation). Greatly increased values for the radius/
thickness ratio, suggesting inadequate hypertrophy, indicate a poor prognosis in patients
with chronic aortic regurgitation and in those with congestive cardiomyopathy; decreased
values for this ratio are found in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (inappropriate
hypertrophy) and in patients with compensated aortic stenosis (appropriate hypertrophy).
In patients with compensated aortic stenosis, echocardiographic measurement of the
left ventricular end-diastolic radius/wall thickness ratio has been used to estimate
left ventricular systolic pressure. Measurement of left ventricular relative wall
thickness appears to provide diagnostic and prognostic data in patients with a broad
variety of cardiac disorders.
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Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
January 24,
1979
Received in revised form:
January 24,
1979
Received:
November 13,
1978
Footnotes
☆This work was supported by a research grant-in-aid (Grant 1320) from the American Heart Association, Massachusetts Affiliate, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts.
Identification
Copyright
© 1979 Published by Elsevier Inc.
