A morphometric study of measurements of heart in adults and its relation with age and height of the individual: A post-mortem study

• Main Authors: Chandni Gupta, Vikram Palimar, Anshul Saxena, Antony Sylvan D′souza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2014-01-01
• Series: CHRISMED Journal of Health and Research
• Subjects: Age; breadth; heart; height; length; weight
• Online Access: http://www.cjhr.org/article.asp?issn=2348-3334;year=2014;volume=1;issue=4;spage=263;epage=265;aulast=Gupta

Objective: Reconstructive and replacement operations of diseased cardiac valves are commonly practiced these days. It may be noted that the choice of proper reconstructive intervention and prosthetic replacement might require the normal morphometric measurements of heart in relation with general body parameters, like age and height. So, this study was undertaken to measure various measurements of heart and its relation with age and height of the individual. Materials and Methods: Sixty five normal post-mortem hearts of adults were taken from the mortuary of Department of Forensic Medicine. Age of the individual was noted. Length of the deceased was measured with a measuring tape from the level of vertex to the outer border of heel. Length (from apex to base), breadth (at broadest diameter) and thickness of the heart were measured with slide callipers. Weight was measured with weighing machine. Results: The mean length, breadth, thickness of heart in males and females are 11.25, 8.78, 3.97 cm and 10.60, 8.31, 3.63 cm. The mean weight of heart in males and females was 323 and 276 gms. There was significant correlation with weight of individual and weight of heart in males. There was significant correlation with age of individual and length of heart in females. Conclusion: This study will be helpful for cardiothoracic surgeons while doing surgery on hearts.