title: Aortic knob width reflects left ventricular diastolic function assessed by gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography in patients with normal myocardial perfusion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aortic knob width on chest radiography represents the extent of aortic dialation and tortuosity of the aortic arch. We tested the hypothesis that aortic knob width reflected left ventricular (LV) diastolic function assessed by gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in patients with normal myocardial perfusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and thirty patients with preserved LV ejection fraction and normal myocardial perfusion were enrolled in this study. Aortic knob width was measured along the horizontal line from the point of the lateral edge of the trachea to the left lateral wall of the aortic knob. The peak filling rate (PFR) and the one-third mean filling rate (1/3 MFR) were obtained as LV diastolic parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 114 male and 16 female patients. Age ranged from 43 to 88 years (69.9 ± 8.9 years). Aortic knob width ranged from 24.2 to 53.4 mm (37.6 ± 5.7 mm). There was a significant correlation between age and aortic knob width (r = 0.34, p < 0.001). Aortic knob width was inversely correlated with both PFR (r = -0.53, p < 0.001) and 1/3 MFR (r = -0.42, p < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that serum creatinine (β = -0.16, p = 0.045) and aortic knob width (β = -0.45, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of PFR, and that age (β = -0.20, p = 0.02) and aortic knob width (β = -0.33, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of 1/3 MFR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggested that aortic knob width on chest radiography was a simple marker of LV diastolic function in patients with normal myocardial perfusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan. skurisu@nifty.com.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurisu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadanao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sumimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikenaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dohi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kihara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003971:Diastole; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D010477:Perfusion; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Aorta; Chest radiography; Diastolic function