Aortic Elongation in Bicuspid Aortic Valve with Aortic Stenosis Assessed by Thin-Slice Electrocardiogram-Gated Computed Tomography

Abstract

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients with aortic stenosis (AS) are known to develop dilatation of the ascending aorta at a younger age, but the morphology of the aorta in these patients is yet to be investigated. Thus, in this study, we aim to evaluate the aortic morphology of BAV patients with severe AS using thin-slice electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated computed tomography (CT) and identify the possible contributing effect of age. In this retrospective study, 122 BAV and 154 tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) patients who received aortic valve replacement for severe AS were assessed by thin-slice ECG-gated CT and three-dimensional reconstruc-tion. The morphology of the ascending aorta was also evaluated among BAV patients aged < 70 (n = 72) and ≥70 (n = 50) years old. As per our findings, BAV patients with severe AS had significantly greater diameter (P < 0.01), elongation (P < 0.01), and tortuosity (P = 0.03) of the ascending aorta; minimum aortic arch angle (P < 0.01); and significantly lower calcified plaque (P < 0.01) compared with those of TAV patients even after ad-justing for background. Multiple regression analysis showed that standardized partial regression coefficients (β) of dilatation (0.5) and elongation (0.35) were higher among other measurements of aortic morphology for BAV patients. BAV patients with severe AS aged ≥70 years had significantly greater diameter (42.0 [37.2-46.1] mm versus 40.4 [35.2-44.2] mm, P = 0.049) and elongation (133.8 [123.5-147.3] mm versus 127.0 [111.0-140.0] mm, P = 0.01) of the ascending aorta than those aged < 70 years. BAV patients with severe AS were determined to have greater dilatation and elongation of the ascending aorta. Moreover, BAV patients older than 70 years had greater diameter and elongation of the ascending aorta.