Z scores

[Livelovelife56]

Good morning allI know its been a bit difficult the last few days and I'm so glad it's cooling down.

I wanted to ask if anyone could explain the significance of Z scores in relation to Aortic Root Dilation.

I'm still trying to understand my son's condition.

Tia

[Cliff_G]

Hi again.

Z scores are a way of assessing how far outside the "norm" an aortic dilatation may be. They are useful in children because children are constantly growing, hence a simple diameter criterion would need to be constantly adjusted for age/body size to mean anything. It's a statistical measure and sometimes used to suggest a point at which intervention is justified.

A very detailed description at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl... but scroll to Figure 1 for a visual understanding.

HTH.

Presumably you've had an opinion that your son's Z-score is xxx and hence he does/does not need an operation yet.