title: Assessment of thoracic aortic elasticity: a preliminary study using electrocardiographically gated dual-source CT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To gain a new insight into the elastic properties of the thoracic aorta in patients without aortic diseases using electrocardiographically (ECG)-gated dual-source (DS) CT.
  
  
  METHODS
  56 subjects with no cardiovascular disease, selected from 2,700 people undergoing ECG-gated DSCT examination, were divided into three groups according to their age. CT data were reconstructed in 5% step throughout the RR interval. Diameter and area were measured at the curve of the ascending aorta (AA) and at the same level of the descending aorta (DA). The pulsation and elasticity of the aorta were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Aortic diameter changes were noted throughout the cardiac cycle. The maximum average diameter was seen at an RR interval of 24.02 ± 4.99% for the AA and 25.63 ± 4.77% for the DA. The minimum was at 93.5 ± 4.04% for the AA and 96.6 ± 4.58% for the DA. There was an age-dependent decrease in elasticity, while different correlation coefficients were found between various age groups and different elastic parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The properties of aortic pulsation and wall elasticity could be well shown by ECG-gated DSCT. The new findings regarding segment difference and age relevance were significant and should be taken into account in clinical trials and treatments for the elasticity related cardiovascular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jingwu Road No.324, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Jiuhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Biermann
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004548:Elasticity; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D012986:Software Validation; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*