학술논문
Ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm growth is minimal at sizes that do not meet criteria for surgical repair
Document Type
article
Author
Source
Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery.
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Language
Abstract
BackgroundHistoric studies of nonsyndromic ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms (aTAAs) reported that the typical aTAA growth rate was approximately 0.6 mm/year, but data were limited due to relatively few studies using computed tomography (CT) imaging. Our purpose was to reevaluate the annual growth rate of nonsyndromic aTAAs that do not meet criteria for surgical repair in veterans in the contemporary era, using modern CT imaging suitable for highly accurate and reproducible aneurysm measurement.MethodsNonsurgical patients (diameter 45 mm. Only 3 patients experienced clinically significant changes in diameter with magnitude greater than 5% of baseline.ConclusionsIn this veteran population, most patients did not experience significant annual aneurysm growth over up to 5 years of follow-up, regardless of initial diameter. Thus, in the modern era, aTAAs may not grow as quickly as previously described, which will be important in determining appropriate intervals for aneurysm surveillance based upon risk-benefit ratio.