Associations between heart size and anthropometric and cardiovascular indicators: an undergraduate physiology teaching laboratory

Heart size is a critical indicator of cardiovascular health, is influenced by various anthropometric measures such as age, sex, body height, body weight, and fat-free mass, and associates with hand palm diameter. Understanding the relationship between heart size and these anthropometric indicators is vital for clinical practice and for understanding and exploring the anatomy and physiology of the heart. We designed a physiology teaching laboratory for second-year undergraduate students to facilitate this understanding. The laboratory had three primary learning objectives: <i>1</i>) to observe heart size measurement with ultrasound by a professional cardiac sonographer; <i>2</i>) to measure anthropometric parameters (age, sex, body height, body weight, body fat percentage, and hand palm diameter) alongside cardiovascular measures (heart rate and blood pressure); <i>3</i>) to comprehend the basic qualitative and quantitative relationships between heart size and both the anthropometric and cardiovascular measurements.<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> Heart size is a key indicator of cardiovascular health, influenced by various factors such as sex and body height. We developed a physiology laboratory for second-year undergraduates to support learning of these relationships, which are crucial for understanding cardiac physiology. First, students observed heart size measurements with ultrasound by a professional. Second, they measured anthropometric and cardiovascular parameters. Finally, they explored the basic associations between heart size and the anthropometric and cardiovascular indicators.