Journal of Vascular Surgery
Volume 47, Issue 3 , Pages 504-512 , March 2008

Thoracic and abdominal aortic dimension in 70-year-old men and women – A population-based whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study

  • Anders Wanhainen, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgical Sciences, Section of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence: Anders Wanhainen, MD, PhD, Department of Surgical Sciences, Section of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital, SE-371 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
    • ,
  • Raquel Themudo, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Radiology, University Hospital Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
    • Astrazeneca, Mölndal, Hospital Geral Santo António, Porto, Sweden
    • ,
  • Håkan Ahlström, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Radiology, University Hospital Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
    • ,
  • Lars Lind, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Science, University Hospital Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
    • ,
  • Lars Johansson, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Radiology, University Hospital Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
    • Department of Radiology, Hospital Geral Santo António, Porto, Sweden.

Received 18 July 2007 ,Accepted 21 October 2007.

  • Image Result

    Maximum intensity projection of the aorta with the corresponding survey slices of the (a) ascending aorta, (b) descending aorta, (c) supraceliac aorta, (d) suprarenal aorta, (e) infrarenal aorta, and

    Maximum intensity projection of the aorta with the corresponding survey slices of the (a) ascending aorta, (b) descending aorta, (c) supraceliac aorta, (d) suprarenal aorta, (e) infrarenal aorta, and (f) aortic bifurcation.

  • Image Result
    Box-and-whisker plot of aortic diameter determined by means of whole-body magnetic resonance angiography in 231 subjects, showing the 2½%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 97½% cumulative relative frequencies. Open

    Box-and-whisker plot of aortic diameter determined by means of whole-body magnetic resonance angiography in 231 subjects, showing the 2½%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 97½% cumulative relative frequencies. Open circles represents cases with values 1.5-3 box lengths from the upper or lower edge of the box and stars represents cases with values >3 box lengths from the upper or lower edge of the box.

  • Image Result
    Scatter-plot of ascending aorta diameter (cm) and body surface area (BSA, cm2). For men (a) the regression line is y = 2.2 + 9.2 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.13, P < .001) and for women (b) y = 2.1 + 7.3 × 10

    Scatter-plot of ascending aorta diameter (cm) and body surface area (BSA, cm2). For men (a) the regression line is y = 2.2 + 9.2 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.13, P < .001) and for women (b) y = 2.1 + 7.3 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.06, P = .013), where y is ascending aortic diameter (dotted line is y + 2 SD).

  • Image Result
    Scatter-plot of descending aorta diameter (cm) and body surface area (BSA, cm2). For men (a) the regression line is y = 2.0 + 6.1 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.11, P < .001) and for women (b) y = 1.6 + 6.7 × 1

    Scatter-plot of descending aorta diameter (cm) and body surface area (BSA, cm2). For men (a) the regression line is y = 2.0 + 6.1 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.11, P < .001) and for women (b) y = 1.6 + 6.7 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.11, P < .001), where y is descending aortic diameter (dotted line is y + 2 SD).

  • Image Result
    Scatter-plot of infrarenal aorta diameter (cm) and body surface area (BSA, cm2). For men* (a) the regression line is y = 2.9 − 2.5 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.02, P = .19) and for women (b) y = 1.6 + 3.5 × 1

    Scatter-plot of infrarenal aorta diameter (cm) and body surface area (BSA, cm2). For men* (a) the regression line is y = 2.9 − 2.5 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.02, P = .19) and for women (b) y = 1.6 + 3.5 × 10−5 × BSA (R2 = 0.03, P = .055), where y is infrarenal aortic diameter (dotted line is y + 2 SD). *Three extreme outliers (diameter >4 cm and ratio >1.4) were excluded from the calculation and is not shown in the scatter-plot.

  • Image Result
    Box-and-whisker plot of the ratio between different aortic segments and the suprarenal diameter, showing the 2½%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 97½% cumulative relative frequencies. Open circles represents cases

    Box-and-whisker plot of the ratio between different aortic segments and the suprarenal diameter, showing the 2½%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 97½% cumulative relative frequencies. Open circles represents cases with values between 1.5 and 3 box lengths from the upper or lower edge of the box, and stars represents cases with values more than 3 box lengths from the upper or lower edge of the box.

 Competition of interest: none.

PII: S0741-5214(07)01746-6

doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2007.10.043

Journal of Vascular Surgery
Volume 47, Issue 3 , Pages 504-512 , March 2008

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