Aortic Size Assessment by Noncontrast Cardiac Computed Tomography: Normal Limits by Age, Gender, and Body Surface Area

Aortic Size Assessment by Noncontrast Cardiac Computed Tomography: Normal Limits by Age, Gender, and Body Surface Area Arik Wolak, Heidi Gransar, Louise E. J. Thomson, John D. Friedman, Rory Hachamovitch, Ariel Gutstein, Leslee J. Shaw, Donna Polk, Nathan D. Wong, Rola Saouaf, Sean W. Hayes, Alan Rozanski, Piotr J. Slomka, Guido Germano, Daniel S. Berman Assessment of aortic size is possible from computed tomography (CT) scans obtained for coronary artery calcium (CAC) measurements. The current study assesses aortic size by gated noncontrast CT in a large cohort of low-risk, asymptomatic adults (n = 4,039) to establish normal reference values for ascending and descending thoracic aortic diameters, including standards by age, gender, and body surface area subsets. Mean (and upper normal limits) diameters were 33 ± 4 mm (41 mm) for ascending and 24 ± 3 mm (30 mm) for descending thoracic aorta. This study defines reference standards for the inclusion of thoracic aortic dimensions to be a part of the clinical report for CAC scanning.