Thoracic aortic geometry in patients with ascending aortic aneurysm and different anatomy of innominate artery

Aim. To analyze thoracic aortic geometry in patients with ascending aortic aneurysm in combination with normal or variant anatomy of innominate artery (IA).

Material and methods. The study included 72 patients with non-syndromic ascending aortic aneurysms, which were divided into 2 following groups depending on IA anatomy: patients with a common origin of innominate and left common carotid artery (CILCA, n=28) and patients with normal vessel (No CILCA, n=44). Based on multispiral computed tomography, the ascending aorta and aortic arch geometry were analyzed in all patients.

Results. Both groups of patients had ascending aortic aneurysm and aortic root dilatation without significant differences. The ascending aortic length in No CILCA patients was 113 [89; 144] mm vs 108 [63; 143] mm in CILCA patients (p=0,021). The length of tubular ascending aorta in No CILCA and CILCA patients was 86 [63; 123] mm and 82 [40; 103] mm, respectively (p=0,018). Compared to patients in the CILCA group, patients with normal IA anatomy were more often diagnosed with type III aortic arch (27,3% vs 3,6%, p=0,017) and less often with type I aortic arch (63,6% vs 89,3%, p=0,036).

Conclusion. Variant IA anatomy ("bovine arch") in patients with ascending aortic aneurysm does not worsen thoracic aortic geometry compared to patients with normal IA anatomy.

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