Aortic annular measurements in fresh post-mortem hearts: a study in Sri Lankans

Abstract

The basal aortic root measurements were determined in 320 fresh, autopsied, normal, adult, Sri Lankan hearts collected from the Judicial Medical Office, National Hospital of Sri Lanka. The correlation between the measurements and demographic data of the individual was calculated. The mean aortic root circumference at the basal ring was 64.7 mm ± 7SD (males 66.0mm ± 6.4SD, females 58.0mm ± 6.1SD) and calculated aortic annular diameter was 20.60mm ± 2.2SD (males 21.02mm ± 2.0SD, females 18.47mm ± 1.9SD). Mean circumference showed significant gender difference. Significant positive correlation was seen between the age and aortic root circumference. We describe the normal range of aortic root diameters in healthy adult autopsied Sri Lankans. The values are smaller in Sri Lankans compared to Caucasians.

Comparison of Heart Valve Circumference Examined Before and After 10% Formalin Fixation

“…However, the data in the previous studies showed some different results compared with this study. Before formalin fixation, the average heart valve circumference in this study was slightly higher than in almost all the previous studies [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] , but lower than that reported by Tei et al 15 and coincided with those reported by Jatene et al 8 and Alison et al 23 Nevertheless, the average heart valve circumference after formalin fixation was slightly lower or similar to the above-mentioned studies. Why there was such a difference between our study and previous studies might be explained by the different socio-economic status and population groups from which the hearts were obtained as well as by the factors affecting formalin fixation, as mentioned above.…”

“…Currently, there is no standard method to measure heart valve circumference. With reference to previous studies [5][6][7][8]10,12,13 , the thread and ruler technique was the most popular practice to evaluate the heart valve circumference. Because none of the above-mentioned studies provided data on direct measurement, no comparisons can be made.…”

“…Several studies from a variety of countries and based on different ethnicities have been performed to find the average heart valve circumference to aid more accurately estimating the circumference needed for an artificial heart valve. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] In general, previous studies took measurements on formalin-fixed hearts. However, it is well known that formalin fixation can shrink fresh tissues in an unpredictable manner.…”

An Autopsy Study of the Quantitative Anatomy of Human Heart

“…Since this study was done on freshly autopsied adult human hearts, it excludes the error due to fixation [18]. It is designed to gather anthropometric cardiac measurements in a sub set of Sri Lankan population.…”

“…This type of anthropometric data are a prerequisite for the accurate interpretation of echocardiography, ante-mortem and post-mortem cardiac MRI and CT [10][11][12], surgical reconstruction and repair of the heart and valves [18,19] and interpretation of cardiac measurements in pathological and medico-legal autopsies. There appears to be a geographical/racial variation on the norms of measurements for the heart and it was proven in most of the studies done in other countries [20][21][22] as well as in Sri Lanka [18,19]. Data on normal cardiac anthropometric measurements for the Sri Lankan population are scarce and scanty.…”