This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Sugawara, J. Articles by Tanaka, H. PubMed Articles by Sugawara, J. Articles by Tanaka, H. Related Collections Related Articles

Age-Associated Elongation of the Ascending Aorta in Adults

Jun Sugawara, PhD^_*,,_*, Koichiro Hayashi, PhD, Takashi Yokoi, PhD, Hirofumi Tanaka, PhD^_*

^_* Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Institute for Human Science and Biomedical Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan

^_* Reprint requests and correspondence: Dr. Jun Sugawara, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, D3700, Austin, Texas 78712-1204 (Email: jun.sugawara{at}mail.utexas.edu).

Objectives: To determine whether human aorta lengthens with aging and to evaluate the impact of the hypothesized aortic elongation on pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements.

Background: Although it is generally thought that the aorta becomes tortuous with aging, there has been no systematic study to date in healthy adults to determine if this is so. Such age-related aortic elongation may be a confounding factor for the PWV measurement in elderly people.

Methods: Arterial lengths were computed by the 3-dimensional transverse magnetic resonance image arterial tracing of the aorta and carotid and iliac arteries in 256 apparently healthy adults (age 19 to 79 years).

Results: The ascending aorta was greater with advancing age (r = 0.72), whereas the lengths of the descending aorta and carotid and iliac arteries were not associated with age. The elongation of the ascending aorta was associated with the corresponding increases in aortic PWV (beta = 0.50) and brachial/aortic pulse pressure ratio (beta = 0.24), which is an index of pulse wave amplification. The straight distance between carotid and femoral sites (car-fem), the most popular arterial length measurement, overestimated the aortic length measured with the magnetic resonance image by 25%. The most accurate arterial length estimation was the distance obtained by subtracting carotid length from the car-fem, with <5% difference from the magnetic resonance image-measured length. Because the ascending aorta was omitted or subtracted from the length estimation in PWV, the impact of age-related elongation of the aorta on PWV was small.

Conclusions: The aorta lengthens with age, even in healthy humans, due primarily to the elongation of the ascending aorta. Age-related aortic elongation has little impact on PWV measurements, as the ascending aorta, which undergoes lengthening with age, is not included in the arterial length measurements.

Key Words: arterial stiffness • pulse wave velocity • morphology • MRI

Abbreviations and Acronyms   car = carotid artery   fem = femoral artery   MRI = magnetic resonance image   PP = pulse pressure   PWV = pulse wave velocity   ssn = suprasternal notch   umb = umbilicus

Related Articles

Dobutamine Stress Testing as a Diagnostic Tool for Evaluation of Myocardial Contractile Reserve in Asymptomatic or Mildly Symptomatic Patients With Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Masakazu Kobayashi, Hideo Izawa, Xian Wu Cheng, Hiroyuki Asano, Akihiro Hirashiki, Kazumasa Unno, Satoru Ohshima, Takashi Yamada, Yosuke Murase, Tomoko S. Kato, Koji Obata, Akiko Noda, Takao Nishizawa, Satoshi Isobe, Kohzo Nagata, Tatsuaki Matsubara, Toyoaki Murohara, and Mitsuhiro Yokota
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Img. 2008 1: 718-726. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. O'Rourke, A. Farnsworth, and J. O'Rourke Aortic Dimensions and Stiffness in Normal Adults J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Img., November 1, 2008; 1(6): 749 - 751. [Full Text] [PDF]