Left Ventricular Functional Parameters and Geometric Patterns in Korean Adults on Coronary CT Angiography with a 320-Detector-Row CT Scanner

OBJECTIVE: To assess the normal reference values of left ventricle (LV) functional parameters in Korean adults on coronary CT angiography (CCTA) with a 320-detector-row CT scanner, and to analyze sex-related differences and correlations with various clinical characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study retrospectively enrolled 172 subjects (107 men and 65 women; age, 58 ± 10.9 years; body surface area [BSA], 1.75 ± 0.2 m(2)) who underwent CCTA without any prior history of cardiac disease. The following parameters were measured by post-processing the CT data: LV volume, LV functional parameters (ejection fraction, stroke volume, cardiac output, etc.), LV myocardial mass, LV inner diameter, and LV myocardial thickness (including septal wall thickness [SWT], posterior wall thickness [PWT], and relative wall thickness [RWT = 2 × PWT / LV inner diameter]). All of the functional or volumetric parameters were normalized using the BSA. The general characteristics and co-morbidities for the enrolled subjects were recorded, and the correlations between these factors and the LV parameters were then evaluated. RESULTS: The LV myocardial thickness (SWT, 1.08 ± 0.18 cm vs. 0.90 ± 0.17 cm, p < 0.001; PWT, 0.91 ± 0.15 cm vs. 0.78 ± 0.10 cm, p < 0.001; RWT, 0.38 ± 0.08 cm vs. 0.33 ± 0.05 cm, p < 0.001), LV volume (LV end-diastolic volume, 112.9 ± 26.1 mL vs. 98.2 ± 21.0 mL, p < 0.001; LV end-systolic volume, 41.7 ± 14.7 mL vs. 33.7 ± 12.2 mL, p = 0.001) and mass (145.0 ± 29.1 g vs. 107.9 ± 20.0 g, p < 0.001) were significantly greater in men than in women. However, these differences were not significant after normalization using BSA, except for the LV mass (LV mass index, 79.6 ± 14.0 g/m(2) vs. 66.2 ± 11.0 g/m(2), p < 0.001). The cardiac output and ejection fraction were not significantly different between the men and women (cardiac output, 4.3 ± 1.0 L/min vs. 4.2 ± 0.9 L/min, p = 0.452; ejection fraction, 63.4 ± 7.7% vs. 66.4 ± 7.6%, p = 0.079). Most of the LV parameters were positively correlated with BSA, body weight, and total Agatston score. CONCLUSION: This study provides sex-related reference values and percentiles for LV on cardiac CT and should assist in interpreting results.