Heart Size of Adults in a Natural Population-Tecumseh, Michigan

Abstract

Roentgenological determinations of the transverse diameter and cardiothoracic ratio in 3,985 subjects aged 20 years or more, from Tecumseh, Michigan, represent the first report on the measurement of heart size in a total community. The influence of cardiovasular abnormality, height, and weight on heart diameter and cardiothoracic ratio is determined across all age and sex divisions for the entire adult population. A consistent hierarchy of heart diameter, independent of age, height, and weight, has been demonstrated so that the diameter of the hearts of abnormal males > normal males > abnormal females > normal females. Heart diameter, especially in the males, distinguishes the abnormal segment of the population more effectively than the cardiothoracic ratio, but an age and sex-specific cardiothoracic ratio may be the most valuable in the clinical situation. Both measurements relate directly to age, sex, and weight, but the relation to height is dependent on weight. Study of heart size in a general population reveals that measurements as simple as heart diameter and cardiothoracic ratio may be effectively applied to clinical and epidemiological cardiovascular evaluations.