Introduction:
The normal diameter values of the aorta are controversial, dictate when aneurysmal disease develops and when it should be treated. They differ between populations implicating that the indications for treatment are not universal. The need arises for regional registries so that treatment may be personalized. However, there are no previous registries in a latin population. Therefore, we performed a population based study on aortic diameters based on CTs measures.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study based on retrospective analysis of random CTs performed during 2018 in the largest Portuguese hospital. Patients with aneurysms were excluded. Diameter was presented in millimeters using outer to outer wall measurements, in an anterior-posterior or transverse plane, perpendicular to the lumen center line. Diameter was adjusted for age and sex, and measured in the locations specified in table 1. Age was categorized in 3 groups: >=50; 50-75; >75. This project was submitted and approved by the Ethics Committee of our institution (ref336/20).
Results:
The mean age of the population analyzed was 64 years old (SD 17; min-max 18-98) and 53.3% were male. A total of 396 CTs were analyzed, and of these 45% had thorax, 97% had abdominal and 83% had pelvic imaging. Mean aortic and iliac diameter are presented in table 1 and were adjusted for age and sex. In all locations of the aorta, the diameter was significantly higher in men than in women, except for the ascending aorta in women under 50 (p<0.001). Diameters increased with age and were significant for all age groups and measured locations (p<0.001). We found intra and interobserver measures to be fairly agreeable (Cohen
k
: 0.21 and 0.24, respectively).
Conclusions:
We defined a set of normal values at key aortic locations. Age and sex significantly influenced these measures, while the dimensions follow a similar pattern through the vessel regardless of these factors.
Table 1. Mean aortic diameter by location, age and sex.
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