Abstract
Cardiac geometry has always been and still is of great importance for the study of heart morphology and mor
phogenesis. The angles that are generally measured are the angles formed by the intersection of the projec
tions of the heart septa (interatrial, interventricular, conal) on the horizontal plane as well as the angles of
rotation of semilunar valves relative to the one of the planes - antero-posterior in most cases.
Objective
- to study the cardiac geometry in the hearts with concordant atrioventricular and ventricular-arte
rial communications in congenital heart diseases.
Material and methods.
Ten specimens of normally formed hearts fixed in formalin-saline solution were studi
ed. The following angles were measured: the angle between the interatrial plane and the posterior part of the
interventricular plane, the angle between the interatrial plane and the conal plane, and the angle between the
conal plane and the posterior part of the interventricular plane named accordingly a, p and y. The angles
were measured up to one degree by circular protractor. The results are presented as M±SD and ME.
Results.
In the normally formed hearts the values of the angles a, p and у do not contradict those of the si
milar angles measured by other researches. The total sum of the angles is approximately equal to 180 degrees,
so that the angles a, p and у form a triangle on a horizontal plane.
Conclusion.
The value of each angle a, p and у may be a point of reference in the study of hearts’ structure in
more complicated cases of congenital heart diseases. The Z-score values may be used in the quantitative
assessment of the geometry of the pathologically formed hearts.
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