Three-dimensional morphometry of the human thoracic aorta using centerline analysis based on least-squares plane...

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Quantitative Morphology

Background:

• The thoracic aorta's complex 3D geometry is crucial for cardiovascular health.
• Existing morphometric techniques may not fully capture subtle geometric variations.
• Aortic diseases like bicuspid aortic valve and type B dissection involve distinct aortic shape alterations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel 3D morphometric analysis for the thoracic aorta.
• To quantitatively assess geometric differences in patients with bicuspid aortic valve and acute type B aortic dissection.
• To compare these differences against a control group without aortic disease.

Main Methods:

• A novel 3D morphometry approach using centerline analysis and least-squares plane fitting on CT imaging data.
• Retrospective comparison of three groups: controls, acute type B aortic dissection, and bicuspid aortic valve patients.
• Analysis of curvature, torsion, and detailed transverse, anteroposterior, and longitudinal displacements, including damped oscillation waveform fitting.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in mean displacements were found across all three directions (transverse, anteroposterior, longitudinal) between the patient groups.
• Curvature exhibited peaks in the ascending aorta and arch; torsion shifted from positive to negative in the arch.
• The bicuspid aortic valve group showed significantly larger amplitudes in damped oscillation parameters compared to controls and type B dissection.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3D morphometric analysis enables quantitative differentiation of thoracic aorta morphology.
• Distinct geometric patterns were identified for bicuspid aortic valve and type B aortic dissection.
• This approach offers potential for improved diagnosis and understanding of aortic pathologies.