Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025
Ultrasound Imaging of the Thoracic and Abdominal Aorta in Mice to Determine Aneurysm Dimensions
Published on: March 8, 2019
Low correlation between biometric parameters, cardiovascular risk factors and aortic dimensions by computed
Ernesto Forte1, Bruna Punzo1, Marco Salvatore1
1IRCCS SDN, Naples.
Insights
Aortic dimensions show weak correlations with biometric parameters like age and body surface area in patients undergoing CT angiography. This suggests challenges in establishing standard normal ranges for aortic measurements.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Radiology
- Anatomy
Background:
- Aortic dimensions are crucial for cardiovascular health assessment.
- Establishing normative ranges for aortic measurements is essential for clinical interpretation.
- Biometric parameters are often used to normalize aortic dimensions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between aortic dimensions and biometric parameters in a large patient cohort.
- To assess the predictive value of biometric parameters for aortic measurements.
- To evaluate the feasibility of using conventional biometric parameters for normalizing aortic dimensions.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 1170 patients undergoing computed tomography coronary angiography.
- Measurement of aortic diameters and areas at the aortic root (AoR), sinotubular junction (STJ), and tubular ascending aorta (TAo).
- Statistical analysis including correlation and multiple linear regression using biometric parameters and cardiovascular risk factors.
Main Results:
- Aortic dimensions differed significantly between men and women and increased linearly with age.
- Hypertension was significantly associated with larger aortic dimensions.
- Low correlation coefficients were observed between aortic diameters and biometric parameters, with body surface area and age explaining only a small portion of the variance in TAo diameter.
Conclusions:
- There is a low correlation between aortic dimensions and conventional biometric parameters in the studied population.
- The findings highlight difficulties in establishing reliable normal ranges for aortic dimensions.
- Normalization of aortic measurements using standard biometric parameters may be problematic.
Abstract:
To analyze the relationship between aortic measures and biometric parameters in a large cohort of consecutive patients undergoing computed tomography coronary angiography.1170 patients (717 men/453 women) performing computed tomography coronary angiography for coronary evaluation were retrospectively evaluated. Aortic diameters and areas were measured at reproducible anatomic landmarks, perpendicular to the axis of vessel, at the level of the aortic root (AoR), the sinotubular junction (STJ), and the tubular ascending aorta (TAo). Biometric parameters and cardiovascular risk factors were recorded.The average values of AoR, STJ, and TAo were 35.63 ± 5.00 mm, 30.56 ± 4.82 mm, 35.07 ± 5.84 mm. Hypertension was significantly associated with aortic dimensions.Aortic measures were significantly different between men and women (37.56 ± 4.77 mm vs 32.58 ± 3.68 mm for AoR, 31.88 ± 4.84 mm vs 28.47 ± 3.98 mm for STJ and 35.93 ± 5.86 mm vs 33.70 ± 5.54 mm for TAo) (P < .001) and linearly increased with age. Low Spearman correlation coefficients were found and the correlation of TAo diameters with age displayed the highest values (ρ = 0.372 for male and ρ = 0.373 for female, P < .001). Multiple linear regression analysis models were compared by R. The best model used body surface area (BSA) and age as independent variables and TAo diameter as dependent variable (R = 0.29 for AoR; R = 0.21 for STJ, and R = 0.20 for TAo).In conclusion, in our population low correlation between aortic dimensions and biometric parameters highlights the difficulty of identifying normal ranges, as well as issues related to normalization using conventional biometric parameters.
Related Concept Videos
01:25Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System VI: Calcium -Scoring CT
01:22Aortic Regurgitation II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Tests
01:28Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System V: CT
01:27Atherosclerosis II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Tests
01:20Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System III: X-Ray
Definition and Purpose
An X-ray, or radiograph, is a non-invasive method that uses ionizing radiation to take images of internal structures. It is mainly used in cardiac imaging to examine the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels, aiming to identify abnormalities in the heart's size, shape, and position, such as heart failure, congenital defects, and vascular...
01:30Coronary Artery Disease I: Introduction