Comparison of echocardiographic linear dimensions for male and female child and adolescent athletes with published pediatric normative data

BACKGROUND Application of normative data for echocardiographic measurements to children practicing sports may lead to false positive findings. The aim of the study was to define the normative data of basic echocardiographic measurements for this group and to compare them to the previously published normative data for the pediatric population. METHODS Parasternal long-axis 2D-guided echocardiographic measurements were obtained from a group of 791 child athletes (ages 5-18 years). According to the methodology presented previously by Pettersen et al. (2008), the regression equations for basic cardiac dimensions against body surface area were derived and individual Z-scores values were computed, using both Pettersen's equations and newly derived ones. RESULTS Z-scores computed based on Pettersen's equations were found to differ significantly from those based on the new equations, for all the analyzed parameters (p