Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance reference values ("normal values") in cardiovascular magnetic resonance: 2025 update

Nadine Kawel-Boehm; Scott J Hetzel; Bharath Ambale-Venkatesh; Gabriella Captur; Calvin W L Chin; Christopher J François; Michael Jerosch-Herold; Judy M Luu; Zahra Raisi-Estabragh; Jitka Starekova; Michael Taylor; Max van Hout; David A Bluemke

doi:10.1016/j.jocmr.2025.101853

Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance reference values ("normal values") in cardiovascular magnetic resonance: 2025 update

J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2025 Summer;27(1):101853. doi: 10.1016/j.jocmr.2025.101853. Epub 2025 Feb 4.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Kantonsspital Graubuenden, Chur, Switzerland.
² Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
³ Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Inherited Heart Muscle Conditions Clinic, Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Cardiology, National Heart Centre, Singapore, Singapore; Cardiovascular Sciences ACP, Duke NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
⁶ Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
⁷ Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁸ Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁹ William Harvey Research Institute, NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
¹¹ Dell Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Texas Dell Medical School, Austin, Texas, USA.
¹² Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Electronic address: dbluemke@wisc.edu.

Abstract

Quantitative assessment of morphological and functional cardiac parameters by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is essential for research and routine clinical practice. Beyond established parameters of chamber size and function, tissue properties such as relaxation times play an increasing role. Normal reference ranges are required for interpretation of results obtained by quantitative CMR. Since the last publication of the "normal values review" in 2020 many new publications related to CMR reference values have been published, which were integrated in this update. The larger sample size provides greater statistical confidence in the estimates of upper and lower limits, and enables further partitioning, e.g., by age and ethnicity for several parameters. Previous topics were expanded by new sections.

Keywords: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance; Normal values; Reference range.

Publication types

Practice Guideline

MeSH terms

Adult
Cardiovascular Diseases* / diagnostic imaging
Cardiovascular Diseases* / physiopathology
Female
Heart Diseases* / diagnostic imaging
Heart Diseases* / physiopathology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging* / standards
Male
Middle Aged
Predictive Value of Tests
Reference Values
Reproducibility of Results