ABC | Volume 113, Nº5, November 2019

Original Article Saraiva et al. Normal values for new echocardiographic techniques Arq Bras Cardiol. 2019; 113(5):935-945 Figure 2 – Correlation between age and passive LAEF (A), LAScd (B), and LV torsion (C). LAScd: peak positive global LAε; LAEF: left atrial emptying fraction; LV: left ventricle. 75 A. B. C. 50 Passive LA EF (%) LAScd (%) Age (years) Torsion (%cm) 25 R = –0.35 P = 0.001 R = –0.42 P = 0.0001 R = 0.28 P = 0.02 20 40 60 80 0 30 20 10 0 4 3 2 1 0 0 Age (years) 20 40 60 80 0 Age (years) 20 40 60 80 0 Table 4 – RV strain analysis All n = 77 Men n = 36 Women n = 41 p value a RV-GLS, % -22 ± 3 -22 ± 3 -22 ± 3 0.86 RV-fwLS, % -24 ± 5 -25 ± 5 -24 ± 4 0.17 RV: right ventricle; RV-fwLS: RV free wall longitudinal strain; RV-GLS: global RV longitudinal strain. a Student’s test-t comparing men vs. women. Discussion In this article, we present values for new echocardiographic indexes obtained fromBrazilians without known cardiovascular diseases. Most subjects were born in Southeastern and Northeastern Brazil. Our study included a population of both sexes made up, in its majority, of white people, followed by mixed/brown skinned and Afro-Brazilians, similar to the ethnic distribution described by the IBGE demographic census of 2010: 44.7% of white people, 43.1% of mixed/brown skinned, 7.6% of Afro-Brazilians, 1.1% of Asian-Brazilians and 0.43% of native Indians (https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisticas-novoportal/ sociais/populacao/9662-censo-demografico-2010.html?edica o=10503&t=resultados). LA and LV diameters measured by 2D-echocardiography were larger in men and LV mass also tended to be larger in men, as those parameters are gender-dependent. 1 Other studies with Brazilians also found the differences described in this paper between men and women for LA and LV diameters and LV mass. 9,10 We also found that E/E’ ratio was higher in women, as described by others. 11,12 Therefore, gender-specific reference values for Doppler m easures m ay be needed in clinical practice. Regarding LA volumes, we found indexedmean values within the normal range published elsewhere. 13,14 Males presented minimum LA volume slightly larger than women, which is in accordance with previous studies, 13 but not with others. 14 The average values for LAScd and LAsr described by us are within the range described for LA ε reference values, 15 while LASct described by us was lower than previously reported. 15 However, there is awide variation between studies that described 940