Increased Aorta Diameter Increases Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke

The aorta is a large artery that carries oxygenated blood to the heart and the rest of the body

The thoracic aorta increases with age, but changes in vessel size and structure, so-called vascular remodeling, have biological implications that involve hemodynamics (basic indicators of cardiovascular function and circulation) and also related to cardiovascular disease systemicity of the process

"Although enlarged thoracic aorta is a common finding in clinical practice, at the population level there are few longitudinal data on long-term outcomes of major cardiovascular disease outcomes

Dr.

In both men and women, the larger the diameter of the thoracic aorta with rising and falling BMI, the greater the risk of adverse cardiovascular events, such as stroke and death

"Our results suggest that image-based assessment of thoracic aortic diameter can be considered an indicator of future cardiovascular disease risk," said Dr.

In women, larger aortic ascending diameters were associated with a 33% higher risk of cardiovascular death

"Increasing age has a greater adverse effect on aortic health and structure in women than in men," said Dr.

CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular risk assessment in asymptomatic women and men is associated with thoracic aortic size and can lead to effective, sex-specific prevention strategies

"Since aortic diameter is significantly associated with body size, using aortic diameter as an anthropometric measure can improve the prognostic value of cardiovascular outcomes," said Dr.

The thoracic aorta size assessment could easily be added to existing screening methods, the researchers said

The current study is based on a single CT assessment of a large cohort of general population participants and followed up to 9 years for cardiovascular event rate and mortality

"This presents an exciting and unique opportunity to study risk characteristics and patterns of thoracic aortic growth across sexes in the general population," said Dr.

Journal References :

1. Oscar L.

   
   

2. Michelle C.