Hemodynamic Correlates of Abnormal Aortic Root Dimension in an Adult Population: The Strong Heart Study.

Overview

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the relationship of aortic root dimension (ARD) with flow output and both peripheral and central blood pressure, using multivariable equations predicting ideal sex-specific ARD at a given age and body height. METHODS AND RESULTS: We measured echocardiographic diastolic ARD at the sinuses of Valsalva in 3160 adults (aged 42±16 years, 61% women) from the fourth examination of the Strong Heart Study who were free of prevalent coronary heart disease, and we compared measured data with the theoretical predicted value to calculate a z score. Central blood pressure was estimated by applanation tonometry of the radial artery in 2319 participants. ARD z scores were divided into tertiles representing small, normal, and large ARD. Participants with large ARD exhibited greater prevalence of central obesity and higher levels of inflammatory markers and lipids (0.05