Re: Is a person's heart size preportionate to her/his hight?

Thank you for your question.

In general, it seems the answer to your question is no.  There have been 
several studies in normal populations of adults and children that have 
tried to correlate body anthropometry (different ways of measuring body 
features such as height, body mass index, body surface area, weight, 
etc.) to heart size.  There are also many ways to measure heart size.  
Some studies estimate the mass of the muscle in the largest chamber of 
the heart, others try to determine the heart's volume, and others measure 
a single dimension of the heart (such as diameter on a chest X-ray).  In 
one study of Nigerian men, the diameter on a chest 
X-ray correlated somewhat with height, though that single means of 
measurement is a bit crude if you're actually trying to measure the real 
size (volume) of the heart.  Several studies with more involved means of 
measuring heart size find correlations of heart size with body surface 
area and body mass index (a shorthand used for determining obesity in 
doctor's offices these days) but not with height.  

You can find the following studies at most college biology libraries or 
on PubMed (www.pubmed.gov).

Tim Nicholls, MD
Berkeley, CA

Katzmarzyk PT, Malina RM, Song TM, Theriault G, Bouchard C. 
Physique and echocardiographic dimensions in children, adolescents and 
young adults.  Ann Hum Biol. 1998 Mar-Apr;25(2):145-57. 
 
Mohan JC, Prasad GS, Arora R. Left ventricular mass in normal adult 
Indians & its correlation with anthropometric parameters. Indian J Med 
Res. 1991 Aug;94:286-9.

Osborne G, Wolfe LA, Burggraf GW, Norman R. Relationships between cardiac 
dimensions, anthropometric characteristics and maximal aerobic power 
(VO2max) in young men.Int J Sports Med. 1992 Apr;13(3):219-24.

Effect of body size, ponderosity, and blood pressure on left ventricular 
growth in children and young adults in the Bogalusa Heart Study. 
Circulation. 1995 May 1;91(9):2400-6.

Obikili EN, Okoye IJ. Transverse cardiac diameter in frontal chest 
radiographs of a normal adult Nigerian population. Niger J Med. 2005 Jul-
Sep;14(3):295-8.