title: Study of the Blood Supply Fraction of the Ascending Aorta and Its Effect in Diagnosing Early Ascending Aortic Atherosclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the capacity of blood storage of certain large arteries during diastole, we first studied the ascending aorta by echocardiography. The concept of the blood supply fraction of the ascending aorta was then introduced to evaluate elastic retraction of the ascending aortic wall and determine its role in diagnosing early atherosclerosis of the ascending aorta.
  
  
  METHODS
  First, we enrolled 120 healthy volunteers and divided them into 3 groups according to age: 20 to 35 years (B1 group), 36 to 50 years (B2 group), and 51 to 65 years (B3 group); there were 40 volunteers in each group. We used echocardiography to measure the blood supply fraction in each volunteer and compared the results for each group. Then we enrolled 40 patients (51-65 years) with early atherosclerosis of the ascending aorta, measured the blood supply fraction of each, and compared the results with the B3 group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean blood supply fractions ± SD in the B1, B2, and B3 groups were 21.75% ± 1.53%, 20.76% ± 1.62%, and 18.44% ± 1.19%, respectively. The fraction in the B3 group was significantly lower than those in the B1 and B2 groups (P < .01). The fraction in the patients with early atherosclerosis was 14.92% ± 1.01%, which was obviously lower than that in the B3 group (P < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The blood supply fraction of the ascending aorta decreases with age, and it could be used as a parameter for diagnosis of early atherosclerosis of the ascending aorta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China. tieshengcao@163.com.
authors.forename: Tiesheng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Lianbi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Yunyou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Changyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnostics, Tang Du Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Huari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055420:Perfusion Imaging / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ascending aorta; atherosclerosis; blood supply fraction; echocardiography; elastic retraction; vascular ultrasound