Age- and Gender-Dependency of Left Ventricular Geometry Assessed with Real-Time Three-Dimensional Transthoracic Echocardiography

Age has heterogeneous effects on LV shape and LV mass/volume ratio, potentially due to the growing process of myocardial fibers and the surrounding architecture in the younger population, as well as the aging process, with an increase in vascular stiffness and a loss of myocytes in older populations. Higher LV mass/volume ratios in older women might be a contributor to the preferential development of diastolic heart failure in this population.