Determinants of descending thoracic aortic size measured by echocardiography

Background: Aortic size is known to be an important predictor of cardiovascular diseases. There is a dearth of data on factors affecting thoracic aorta size in the black African population. Objective: To determine the predictors of descending thoracic aortic size measured by echocardiography. Materials and Methods: Transthoracic echocardiographic reports of 167 consecutive subjects were retrospectively reviewed. Data obtained from the register included age, gender, weight, height, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate. Results: A total of 167 individuals aged between 12 and 96 years were studied. These were composed of 94 males and 73 females with mean age of 51.64 ± 16.31 and 46.90 ± 15.77, respectively. The mean descending thoracic aortic dimension was 23.35 ± 3.73 mm. The aortic measurement was found to be significantly higher in the male subjects (p < 0.05). A multi-variate correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between descending thoracic aortic dimension and (1) age, (2) weight, (3) body mass index, (4) systolic blood pressure, (5) diastolic blood pressure, (6) pulse pressure, and (6) mean arterial blood pressure (p < 0.05). These relationships were further explored using regression models. The most important predictors of aortic dimension in this study were age, weight, and sex (p < 0.05). Our result suggests a linear relationship between age and descending thoracic dimension. Conclusion: Age, body weight, and gender significantly affect the size of the descending thoracic aorta and could predict cardiovascular risk.