Augmentation Index in Patients with Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm: A Matched Case-Control Study

Figures

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  Figure 1. Example of a synthesized aortic pulse pressure wave derived from form analysis of the recorded radial artery pulse wave. After the start of the pulse wave (T0), indicating the onset of ejection, the pressure wave rises to an initial peak where it forms a shoulder (P1). This is the peak of the primary left ventricular ejection pressure. The second shoulder (P2) represents the peak of the arterial reflection wave. The difference between P2 and P1 is called augmentation pressure (AP). The end of ejection (ED) is the point of closure of the aortic valve and time of the end of systole. The augmentation index (AIx) is calculated as the difference between second (P2) and first (P1) systolic peak pressure.

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  Figure 2. All TAA patients were enrolled from echocardiography databases of three different hospitals. Patients from the University Hospital Zurich accounted for the most of the included persons. Final analysis consisted of 148 participants, one-to-one matched. CPAP: continuous positive airway pressure, LVEF: left ventricular ejection fraction, AIx: augmentation index, TAA: thoracic aortic aneurysm.

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  Figure 3. Aortic Augmentation Index at Heart Rate 75/min. This figure shows box plots for aortic augmentation index adjusted to a heart rate of 75/min in controls and TAA patients with no significant differences.