π« LV Mass Index Calculator
Devereux LV mass indexed to body surface area.
For informational purposes only, not medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional.
Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) measures heart muscle thickening adjusted for body size. LV mass comes from three echocardiogram measurements, septal thickness, internal diameter, and posterior wall thickness, via the Devereux formula. Dividing by body surface area gives LVMI in grams per square meter, the number cardiologists compare against ASE cutoffs: 115 for men, 95 for women.
Enter the three echo measurements in centimeters plus sex, height, and weight. The calculator returns LV mass, body surface area, LVMI, and the hypertrophy verdict, plus relative wall thickness to distinguish concentric from eccentric remodeling.
How to Use This Calculator
Copy IVS, LVIDd, and PWT from the echocardiogram report, all in centimeters at end-diastole. Enter sex, height, and weight for body surface area. Read LVMI against the sex-specific cutoff. The relative wall thickness line tells you the geometry: above 0.42 with high LVMI means concentric hypertrophy, the classic hypertension pattern.
Enter septal thickness, LV internal diameter, and posterior wall thickness in cm.
Enter sex, height, and weight.
Read LV mass and LVMI.
Compare LVMI to 115 (men) or 95 (women) and note the geometry from relative wall thickness.
The Devereux Formula
LVMI = LVM / BSA (DuBois)
The formula models the left ventricle as a thick-walled ellipsoid: the outer volume (walls plus cavity) minus the inner cavity volume gives wall volume, times 1.04 g/mL (myocardial density) gives mass, with the 0.8 and 0.6 regression corrections from Devereux's validation against autopsy weights. Cubing makes small measurement errors balloon, which is why ASE stresses careful end-diastolic measurements perpendicular to the walls. Body surface area indexing via DuBois removes the trivial fact that bigger people have bigger hearts, isolating pathological thickening.
Worked Example
Septum 1.0, LVID 4.8, posterior wall 1.0 in a 178 cm, 82 kg man: LV mass is 170 g and BSA 2.00 m2, giving an LVMI of 85 g/m2, which reads Normal (<= 115 g/m2). Thicken the walls to 1.3 cm each and LVMI jumps past 130: the cube in the formula punishes wall thickening hard.
Reading LVMI and Geometry
Above the cutoff is left ventricular hypertrophy, an independent predictor of heart failure, arrhythmia, and death even after adjusting for blood pressure. Geometry refines it: concentric hypertrophy (thick walls, normal cavity, RWT >0.42) is the pressure-overload pattern of hypertension and aortic stenosis; eccentric hypertrophy (big cavity, RWT normal) is the volume-overload pattern of valve regurgitation or athletic remodeling. Concentric remodeling (high RWT, normal LVMI) is the early warning stage. Athletes can exceed cutoffs with eccentric, healthy remodeling, which is why context matters.
Echo Interpretation Belongs to Cardiology
LVMI is one measurement in a full echocardiogram interpreted alongside ejection fraction, diastolic function, valves, and the clinical picture. Do not self-diagnose hypertrophy from a calculator: measurement technique heavily influences the number. If your report mentions LVH, discuss blood pressure control and causes with your cardiologist. For informational purposes only, not medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional.
Related tools: mean arterial pressure, blood pressure checker and BMI calculator.
For informational purposes only, not medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a normal LV mass index?
At or below 115 g/m2 for men and 95 g/m2 for women by ASE criteria. Above those cutoffs is left ventricular hypertrophy.
What causes left ventricular hypertrophy?
Most often chronic hypertension or aortic stenosis (pressure overload), also valve regurgitation, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and athletic training.
What is the Devereux formula?
The ASE-recommended equation estimating LV mass from septal thickness, cavity diameter, and posterior wall thickness, validated against autopsy heart weights.
What is relative wall thickness?
Twice the posterior wall thickness divided by cavity diameter. Above 0.42 indicates concentric geometry, the hypertension pattern.
Can LVH regress?
Yes. Blood pressure control, treating aortic stenosis, and weight loss can reduce LV mass over months to years.
Do athletes have high LVMI?
Endurance athletes often do, usually eccentric remodeling with excellent function. Sports cardiologists distinguish this from disease with additional testing.
Why index to body surface area?
So a 100 kg man is not flagged simply for having a bigger heart than a 55 kg woman. Indexing isolates pathological thickening from body size.
How accurate is echo LV mass?
Good but operator-dependent: small measurement errors cube into large mass errors. Cardiac MRI is the gold standard when precision matters.
Can left ventricular hypertrophy be reversed?
Often, yes, at least partly. Treating the cause, usually high blood pressure, lets the heart muscle thin back down over months to years; studies show LV mass falling 10 to 20 percent with sustained blood pressure control. Weight loss and treating sleep apnea help too. Severe long-standing thickening with scarring reverses less, which is why catching it early matters.
Why is LV mass indexed to body surface area?
Bigger people have bigger hearts, so raw mass in grams misleads. A 200-gram heart is normal in a large man and hypertrophy in a small woman. Dividing by body surface area puts everyone on one scale, which is why the cutoffs (115 for men, 95 for women) work across body sizes.