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Published on: March 8, 2019
Quantitative assessment of the entire thoracic aorta from magnetic resonance images
Ryan K Johnson1, Senthil Premraj, Sonali S Patel
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Children's Hospital, Iowa City, 52242, United States of America.
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.
