Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Hacking C, Silverstone L, Wahab R, et al. Unfolded aorta. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 24 Feb 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-37214
The term unfolded aorta refers to an increased radius of curvature and rotation of the relatively mobile aortic arch 3. It is a common cause of mediastinal widening on chest radiograpy in older individuals.
With increasing age the aorta lengthens, stiffens and gradually dilates 3. Pulse pressure and pulse wave velocity increase and left ventricular mass may increase. These changes are strongly related to blood pressure and replacement of elastic tissue in the aortic wall by fibrosis 3.
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2. Lee JW, Hur J, Kim YJ, Lee HJ, Nam JE, Kim HY, Hong YJ, Ko SM, Kim TH, Choi BW. Aortic unfolding determined using non-contrast cardiac computed tomography: correlations with age and coronary artery calcium score. (2014) PloS one. 9 (4): e95887. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095887 - Pubmed
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3. Redheuil A, Yu W, Mousseaux E et al. Age-Related Changes in Aortic Arch Geometry. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011;58(12):1262-70. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2011.06.012 - Pubmed
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