Correlations of aortic dimensions, pulmonary artery, and body surface area in pediatric Marfan

Alberto Guevara-Tirado, Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Perú

Objective: To compare the strength of correlation between the aortic root, pulmonary artery, and body surface area in pediatric and young patients with Marfan syndrome. Method: Cross-sectional study using secondary data from 1371 records of Marfan syndrome patients from the A100 form of the Pediatric Heart Network Marfan Study. Variables included maximum diameters of the aortic root and pulmonary artery (bidimensional echocardiography), body surface area (Mosteller formula), sex, and age. Normality was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test; Spearman correlation was applied due to non-normal distribution. Analyses were stratified by age and sex. Results: The correlations between aortic root diameter, main pulmonary artery, and body surface area were significant across all groups, though stronger in patients ≤ 14 years (ρ= 0.616-0.786) compared to those aged 15-26 years (ρ = 0.295-0.442). By sex, the associations were high and comparable, both in females (ρ = 0.697-0.812) and in males (ρ = 0.622-0.792), indicating a closer vascular morphometric relationship at younger ages and a trend toward greater structural concordance by sex. Conclusions: The aortic–pulmonary relationship depends on age, with greater strength during periods of accelerated growth.

Keywords: Marfan syndrome. Aorta. Pulmonary artery. Body surface area. Correlation of data.