Register for email alerts and news feeds:
This journal | BMJ Group
rss
Postgraduate Medical Journal 2009;85:383-391; doi:10.1136/pgmj.2008.075531
© 2009 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine.

REVIEW

Congenital and acquired conditions of the aortic root: multidetector computed tomography features

H A Vargas1,2, E T D Hoey2, D Gopalan2, S K B Agrawal2, N J Screaton2, G S Gulati2,3

1 Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge, UK
2 Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK
3 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Correspondence to:
Dr G S Gulati, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, B-3/185, Janak Puri, New Delhi 110058, India; gulatigurpreet{at}rediffmail.com

The aortic root links the left ventricle and ascending aorta and functions as a support structure for the aortic valve. It can be affected by a variety of congenital and acquired conditions, some of which are potentially life threatening. Echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging are established non-invasive imaging techniques for assessing the aortic root. Recent technological advances have allowed multidetector computed tomography to emerge as an alternative means of assessing this aortic segment. This pictorial essay reviews the anatomy of the aortic root and illustrates the salient computed tomography imaging features of a range of congenital and acquired conditions that may affect it.

Keywords: aortic root; computed tomography; cardiac imaging


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

This Article

Services
Google Scholar
PubMed
Bookmark with

Register for free content

The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.