Impact of ascending aorta replacement by graft on elastic properties of descending thoracic aorta evaluated by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract : Objective : The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of aortic root replacement by graft on the elastic properties of the descending thoracic aorta using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and automatic post-processing. Materials and methods Nineteen patients were operated for an aortic root aneurysm. Cardiac MRI was performed before and after surgery to measure aortic compliance. Images were acquired on a 1.5 T MRI with a conventional aortic MRI protocol plus one additional kinetic sequence orientated perpendicularly to the aorta at the level of pulmonary trunk. The contours of the ascending and descending aortas were detected automatically for each phase with homemade software. Results Mean time between surgical procedure and earliest post-operative MRI was 18.2 ± 7.1 months. There was no significant difference between the pre- and earliest post-operative mean descending aorta areas and no significant modification in descending aortic compliance after aortic root replacement (1.43 ± 0.84 vs 1.37 ± 0.58 mm²/mmHg, p = 0.47). Pre- and post-operative systolic and diastolic blood pressure were similar. There was a significant decrease in ascending aortic compliance after surgery (2.52 ± 1.24 vs 0.91 ± 0.52 mm²/mmHg; p < 0.0001). Discussion The aortic root replacement by graft was not associated with changes in elastic properties of the descending aorta at short term. Clinical registration number NCT03817008.