Determination of Left Ventricular Mass by Echocardiography in Normal Arab People

Echocardiographic data from 168 normal (1875 years of age) were pooled and analyzed to obtain normal echocardiographic values in the Arab people. The purpose of this study was to measure the normal values of left ventricular mass (LVM) in Arab people and to compare them with values obtained in Europe and North America.
LVM was estimated by M-mode echocardiography in normal male and female subjects. These values were related to age, sex, height, weight and body surface area. In men (N=82) the LVM was 186±34 grams (mean±SD). Data showed significant correlation between LVM with weight, body surface area (p<0.05), but not significantly associated with height and age (p>0.05). In female (N=86) the LVM value was 168±17 grams (mean±SD). Data also showed significant correlation of LVM with weight, body surface area and also with age (p<0.05) but not with height. Our results demonstrated that values of LVM in the Arab people are not different from values obtained in other parts of the world including Europe and North America. More studies are still essential in different Arab countries.