A retrospective evaluation of echocardiograms to establish normative inferior vena cava and aortic measurements for children younger than 6 years

Objectives—The ability to plot the inferior vena cava (IVC) size on a normal curve for pediatric patients may prove beneficial. First, in patients with normal cardiac anatomy who present in shock, assessing IVC size may be valuable for evaluating the degree of dehydration. Second, in children with heart disease, understanding how a child’s IVC size compares to normal could be particularly beneficial for patients with right heart disease. We sought to create normal curves for the IVC and aorta in children younger than 6 years. Methods—Data were gathered from 347 echocardiograms of healthy children younger than 6 years in a retrospective study at a quaternary care children’s hospital. From the subcostal long- and short-axis images, maximum diameters in the transverse and longitudinal views were obtained for both the IVC and the aorta. Results—Both IVC and aortic dimensions increased in a linear fashion and had excellent correlations with the body surface area, body mass, and height (IVC, r50.78–0.81; P<.0001; aorta, r50.82–0.86; P<.0001). Conclusions—In children younger than 6 years, the IVC and aorta increase linearly as the children grow. Such normal curves will be beneficial for assessing a pediatric patient’s hydration status or right heart function in patients with congenital heart disease.