Echocardiography nomograms in black South African neonates

Abstract

Background: Quantitative estimation of cardiac cham bers, valve annulus and great vessel dimensions in pae diatric echocardiography is necessary in clinical man agement. Various studies have already provided normal values in the paediatric population that represent most populations of the world but there is paucity of data originating from sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in neonates. We sought to establish reliable echocardio graphy nomograms for cardiac chambers, valve annulus, great vessels, and thymus dimensions in the Black South African neonatal population. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study evaluating cardiac chamber, valve annuli, thymus, and great vessel dimensions in Black South African neonates with normal hearts using echocardiography. Results: This study recruited 386 neonates (51% females, 49% males; Weight range: 2.50 - 4.43kg [mean, 3.180; SD, 0.38]; BSA range: 0.17 - 0.24m2 [mean, 0.20; SD, 0.01]). After controlling for the effects of confounders, good correlation for most cardiac dimensions were observed. Inter-observer variability revealed a strong correlation (ICC=0.50-0.82) with most measurements. All cardiac dimensions correlated well with body weight and were within ±2 standard deviation with few exceptions. Conclusion: This study presents nomograms from data acquired from healthy neonates which contributes to the current body of knowledge on cardiac dimensions in the African neonatal age group.