The Need for Standardized Methods for Measuring the Aorta: Multimodality Core Lab Experience From the GenTAC Registry

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Medical Diagnostics
• Aortic Disease Research

Background:

• Thoracic aorta imaging is vital for risk stratification and surgical timing in aortic disease.
• Lack of standardized measurement procedures contributes to variability in clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate variability in aortic measurements across multiple imaging modalities and clinical centers.
• To compare clinical center measurements with a standardized core laboratory protocol.

Main Methods:

• Compared echocardiography, CT, and MRI measurements from 6 clinical centers with a core laboratory protocol in 965 studies.
• Analyzed image variability using mean differences and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Main Results:

• Echocardiography demonstrated higher ICC for the ascending aorta compared to CT and MRI.
• MRI showed higher ICC for the aortic arch and descending aorta.
• Imaging modalities and clinical centers, not patient demographics, were sources of measurement variability.

Conclusions:

• Significant variability in aortic measurements exists between clinical centers and imaging modalities.
• Development of unifying acquisition protocols and common measurement methods for CT and MRI is recommended.