Aortic annulus and ascending aorta: comparison of preoperative and periooperative measurement in patients with aortic stenosis.
BACKGROUND
Precise determination of the aortic annulus size constitutes an integral part of the preoperative evaluation prior to aortic valve replacement. It enables the estimation of the size of prosthesis to be implanted. Knowledge of the size of the ascending aorta is required in the preoperative analysis and monitoring of its dilation enables the precise timing of the operation. Our goal was to compare the precision of measurement of the aortic annulus and ascending aorta using magnetic resonance (MR), multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT), transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), and transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in patients with degenerative aortic stenosis.


RESULTS
A total of 15 patients scheduled to have aortic valve replacement were enrolled into this prospective study. TTE was performed in all patients and was supplemented with TEE, CT and MR in the majority of patients. The values obtained were compared with perioperative measurements. For the measurement of aortic annulus, MR was found to be the most precise technique, followed by MDCT, TTE, and TEE. For the measurement of ascending aorta, MR again was found to be the most precise technique, followed by MDCT, TEE, and TTE.


CONCLUSIONS
In our study, magnetic resonance was found to be the most precise technique for the measurement of aortic annulus and ascending aorta in patients with severe degenerative aortic stenosis.
Smíd
Michal
M
Cardiology Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine Plzen, Charles University Prague and University Hospital Plzen, alej Svobody 80, 304 60 Plzen, Czech Republic. kosvin@seznam.cz
Ferda
Jirí
J
Baxa
Jan
J
Cech
Jakub
J
Hájek
Tomás
T
Kreuzberg
Boris
B
Rokyta
Richard
R
D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography