Key result
Thoracic aortic diameter varies significantly across the cardiac cycle, peaking at the 30-35% phase.
Why the study?
The diameter of the thoracic aorta varies with the cardiac phase, and identifying the correct phase is important for accurate measurement to predict aortic disease.
Does the diameter of the thoracic aorta vary significantly across different cardiac phases measured by cardiac CT in patients with suspected coronary artery disease?
Cross-Sectional (n=97)
No
Does the diameter of the thoracic aorta vary significantly across different cardiac phases measured by cardiac CT in patients with suspected coronary artery disease?
p-value: p=<0.05
The diameter of the thoracic aorta varies significantly with the cardiac phase, indicating that standardizing the cardiac phase during CT measurement could improve the accuracy of predicting aortic disease.
Cardiac phase standardization may enhance aortic CT measurement consistency; this Level 4 cross-sectional study leaves open its effect on disease prediction.
The aim was to evaluate the thoracic aorta in different cardiac phases to obtain the correct cardiac phase for measuring the maximum diameter required to predict aortic disease. Cardiac CT was performed on 97 patients for suspected coronary artery disease. The average diameter of ascending (AAD) and descending aorta (DAD) in the plane of pulmonary bifurcation, in the plane of the sinus junction (AAD [STJ] and DAD [STJ]), descending aorta in the plane of the diaphragm (DAD [Dia]), the diameter of the main pulmonary artery (MPAD), distance from the sternum to the spine (S-SD), and distance from the sternum to the ascending aorta (S-AAD) were assessed at 20 different time points in the cardiac cycle. Differences in aortic diameter in different cardiac phases and the correlation between aortic diameter and traditional risk factors were analyzed by the general linear mixed model. The diameter of the thoracic aorta reached the minimum at the phase of 95-0%, and reached the maximum at 30-35%. The maximum values of AAD, AAD (STJ), DAD, DAD (STJ), and DAD (Dia) were 32.51 ± 3.35 mm, 28.86 ± 3.01 mm, 23.46 ± 2.88 mm, 21.85 ± 2.58 mm, and 21.09 ± 2.66 mm, respectively. The maximum values of MPAD/AAD and DAD/AAD (STJ) were 0.8140 ± 0.1029, 0.7623 ± 0.0799, respectively. The diameter of the thoracic aorta varies with the cardiac phase. Analyzing the changes in aortic diameter, which can be done using cardiac CT, could provide a more accurate clinical measurement for predicting aortic disease.
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Zheng et al. (2021) conducted a cross-sectional in Suspected coronary artery disease (n=97). Cardiac cycle phases vs. Different phases within the same patient was evaluated on Aortic diameter changes across 20 cardiac phases (p=<0.05). The diameter of the thoracic aorta varies significantly with the cardiac cycle, reaching its minimum at the 95-0% phase and maximum at the 30-35% phase.
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