Figure 1
Study flow chart.
Figure 2
Longitudinal image of the aorta from a 29-year-old male participant. Measurements are performed above (A) and below (B). Celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) branch with an anterior–posterior diameter of 2 cm.
Figure 3
Longitudinal image of the aorta from a 49-year-old female participant. Anterior–posterior diameter (2.1 cm) is measured at the infrarenal location.
Table 1
Baseline demographics and clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of the patients screened for abdominal aorta.
| TOTAL POPULATION (n = 137) | MEN (n = 59) | WOMEN (n = 78) | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics and clinical data | ||||
| Age (years) | 54.4 ± 15.9 | 59.5 ± 15.7 | 50.6 ± 15.0 | 0.001 |
| Weight (kg) | 70 ± 15 | 68 ± 14 | 70 ± 16 | 0.440 |
| Height (m) | 1.61 ± 0.09 | 1.66 ± 0.08 | 1.57 ± 0.07 | <0.001 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 27 ± 6 | 25 ± 5 | 29 ± 6 | 0.001 |
| Obesity (%) | 42 | 27 | 54 | 0.002 |
| Smoking (%) | 9 | 19 | 1 | <0.001 |
| Clinic systolic BP (mmHg) | 141 ± 23 | 136 ± 21 | 145 ± 24 | 0.023 |
| Clinic diastolic BP (mmHg) | 87 ± 12 | 84 ± 12 | 88 ± 12 | 0.036 |
| Diabetes (%) | 14 | 21 | 8 | 0.030 |
| Coronary artery disease (%) | 15 | 24 | 9 | 0.018 |
| Atrial fibrillation (%) | 13 | 19 | 9 | 0.097 |
| Chronic kidney disease (%) | 7 | 13 | 3 | 0.024 |
| Echocardiographic data | ||||
| Aortic annulus diameter (cm) | 2.0 ± 0.2 | 2.0 ± 0.3 | 1.7 ± 0.2 | 0.001 |
| Aortic root diameter (cm) | 3.1 ± 0.4 | 3.3 ± 0.4 | 2.9 ± 0.4 | <0.001 |
| Ascending aortic diameter (cm) | 3.2 ± 0.4 | 3.3 ± 0.4 | 3.1 ± 0.4 | 0.006 |
| Abdominal aortic diameter (cm) | 2.1 ± 0.3 | 2.2 ± 0.3 | 2.1 ± 0.3 | 0.005 |
| LVEF by Simpson biplane (%) | 52 ± 15 | 49 ± 17 | 55 ± 14 | 0.027 |
| E/e’ ratio | 10 ± 5 | 10 ± 4 | 11 ± 5 | 0.406 |
| LV mass (g) | 168 ± 75 | 186 ± 77 | 155 ± 70 | 0.016 |
| LV mass indexed by height (g/m2.7) | 47 ± 20 | 45 ± 18 | 48 ± 23 | 0.573 |
| LV mass indexed by BSA (g/m2) | 97 ± 41 | 101 ± 39 | 94 ± 43 | 0.437 |
| Left atrial volume index (ml/m2) | 35 ± 18 | 36 ± 18 | 34 ± 18 | 0.527 |
[i] BP, blood pressure; BSA, body surface area; LV, left ventricular; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction.
Table 2
Correlates of abdominal aortic diameter in univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses.
| UNIVARIATE | MULTIVARIATE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| β | P | β | P | |
| Demographics and clinical factors | ||||
| Age (years) | 0.36 | <0.001 | 0.17 | 0.048 |
| Male gender | 0.25 | 0.005 | 0.18 | 0.036 |
| Height (m) | 0.16 | 0.125 | ||
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 0.03 | 0.807 | ||
| Smoking | –0.036 | 0.684 | –0.11 | 0.170 |
| Coronary artery disease | 0.12 | 0.165 | ||
| Atrial fibrillation | 0.31 | <0.001 | 0.22 | 0.010 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 0.06 | 0.472 | ||
| Clinic systolic BP (mmHg) | 0.25 | 0.005 | 0.15 | 0.065 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 0.05 | 0.583 | ||
| Echocardiographic parameters | ||||
| Aortic root diameter (cm) | 0.30 | 0.001 | ||
| Ascending aortic diameter (cm) | 0.31 | <0.001 | –0.04 | 0.697 |
| Peak aortic jet velocity (m/s) | 0.19 | 0.032 | ||
| Aortic sclerosis | 0.24 | 0.008 | –0.04 | 0.958 |
| LV end-diastolic diameter (cm) | 0.289 | 0.001 | ||
| LVEF by Simpson biplane (%) | –0.20 | 0.028 | –0.02 | 0.888 |
| E/e’ ratio | 0.10 | 0.319 | ||
| LV mass (g) | 0.48 | <0.001 | 0.36 | <0.001 |
| LV mass indexed by height (g/m2.7) | 0.43 | 0.001 | ||
| LV mass indexed by BSA (g/m2) | 0.48 | <0.001 | ||
| Left atrial volume index (ml/m2) | 0.31 | <0.001 | ||
| Echocardiographic features of RHD | 0.05 | 0.566 | ||
[i] BP, blood pressure; BSA, body surface area; LV, left ventricular; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; RHD, rheumatic heart disease.