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Quantitative assessment of the entire thoracic aorta from magnetic resonance images
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Quantitative assessment of the entire thoracic aorta from magnetic resonance images

Ryan K Johnson, Senthil Premraj, Sonali S Patel, Andreas Wahle, Alan Stolpen, Milan Sonka and Thomas D Scholz
Cardiology in the young, Vol.21(2), pp.170-177
04/2011
DOI: 10.1017/S1047951110001678
PMCID: PMC4355944
PMID: 21205418
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/4355944View
Open Access

Abstract

Objectives: Although magnetic resonance imaging is a primary modality for following patients with connective tissue diseases, only a limited amount of the image data is utilised. The purpose of this study was to show the clinical applicability of an automated four-dimensional analysis method of magnetic resonance images of the aorta and develop normative data for the cross-sectional area of the entire thoracic aorta. Study design: Magnetic resonance imaging was obtained serially over 3 years from 32 healthy individuals and 24 patients with aortopathy and a personal or family history of connective tissue disorder. Graph theory-based segmentation was used to determine the cross-sectional area for the thoracic aorta. Healthy individual data were used to construct a nomogram representing the maximum cross-sectional area 5th-95th percentile along the entire thoracic aorta. Aortic root diameters calculated from the cross-sectional area were compared to measured diameters from echocardiographic data. The cross-sectional area of the entire thoracic aorta in patients was compared to healthy individuals. Results: Calculated aortic root diameters correlated with measured diameters from echo data - correlation coefficient was 0.74-0.87. The cross-sectional area in patients was significantly greater in the aortic root, ascending aorta, and descending aorta compared to healthy individuals. Conclusion: The presentation of the dimensional data for the entire thoracic aorta shows an important clinical tool for following patients with connective tissue disorders and aortopathy.
cross-sectional area Aortopathy thoracic aortic aneurysm Marfan syndrome connective tissue disease

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