Abstract
In the past surgeons did not consider gender to be an important factor in the treatment
of congenital heart defects (CHDs). However, gender differences in morbidity and mortality
are well documented for acquired heart disease, but data are sparse for CHDs. The
purpose of this review is to update the knowledge on the influence of gender on the
size and function of the heart during childhood and adolescence. Gender does play
an important role already in childhood documented by significant differences in cardiac
chamber size, cardiac function, and metabolic exercise testing in healthy young reference
populations. Illustrated by the example of tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), gender influence
in CHD also appears relevant, for example, biventricular volumes and mass—indexed
to body surface area—are significantly higher in male ToF patients, ∼10% for volumes
and ∼20% for muscle mass. Accordingly, there is also new evidence that gender has
an important role on the outcome of CHDs as shown in recent registry studies which
underlines the need for gender-specific algorithms in CHD.
Keywords
congenital heart defect - magnetic resonance imaging - gender-specific reference values
- heart defect-specific reference values
