ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Enlargement of the aortic root of occurs in many cases with cardiovascular disease, including congenital connective tissue disorders (CCTD), especially its differentiated and undifferentiated forms (UCCTD). A common deficiency of the generally accepted methods for diagnosing an aortic root dilation may be that persons with CCTD and cardiovascular diseases of potentially having a broader aortic root diameter could be included in the reference groups. The purpose of our study was to develop a modified method for determining the normal aortic root diameter in group of individuals without CCTD and cardiovascular diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 464 apparently healthy people, men and women aged 15 to 65 years. All patients underwent general clinical examination, echocardiography. On the basis of external and internal signs of CCTD, patients with UCCTD were identified - the UCCTD group (n = 208) and without this pathology - the main group (n = 256). The calculation of the normal aortic root diameter (NARD) was made in accordance with the methods of Roman M. J. et al. (1989) and Devereux R. B. et al. (2012). The upper limit values of NARD (UL NARD) were calculated according to the algorithms of Roman M. J. et al. (1989), Devereux R. B. et al. (2012), Campens L. et al. (2014). RESULTS: The data obtained in the main group was used to develop a modified method for the determination of NARD. The mean values by echocardiography and calculated values of the aortic root by modified method of this study were practically the same in the main group, whereas the mean value of NARD calculated by the methods of Roman M. J. et al. and Devereux R. B. et al. in this sample were significantly higher in relation to the listed values. As the NARD values, the UL NARD were significantly higher for all evaluated algorithms in comparison with the modified method. In the group of patients with UCCTD, 13 cases of aortic root dilation were found according to the method of Roman M. J., compared to 19 cases by the modified method. At the same time, 3 patients with aortic root enlargement by the mew method had 7 points of systemic involvement, thus corresponding to the Ghent criteria of Marfan syndrome. The methods of Campens L. and Devereux R. B. were less sensitive, revealing only 5 and 1 patients with aortic root dilatation, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study demonstrate that, in order to obtain more reliable information on the condition of the root of the aorta and its proper values, the modified method obtained in the course of the study can be used. This method is more sensitive in detecting the enlargement of the aortic root in CCTD and in diagnosing syndromic CCTD.
