Lara Mrak1, Christopher J. François1, Sonja Kinner1,2, and Mark L. Schiebler1
The size of the ascending aorta is of critical importance
for patient survival as it is directly related to the likelihood of aortic
dissection and risk of death. The
traditional imaging method that has been used for this measurement has been
computed tomography of the chest. With many more children and young adults now
being imaged with contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography examinations
(CE-MRA) , it is useful to know what the range of variability is for the normal
aorta on these exams. We present here age and sex specific values for nomograms of the ascending aorta derived from non-gated CE-MRA
examinations that are indexed to body surface area.
