Reprinted with permission from the Summer 1999 issue of Outlook, a quarterly publication of the Washington University School of Medicine, copyright 1999. Researchers here have found that thickening of the aorta at the site where the vessel attaches to the heart can significantly increase the rate of stroke. This is the first prospective, long-term study of the relationship between atherosclerosis in the aorta and risk of stroke and death. Davila-Roman and colleagues studied 1,957 patients undergoing cardiac surgery. During the surgery, the researchers made images of the ascending aorta using a technique called epiaortic ultrasound.
Stroke is a major problem in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
Depending on patient age and other risk factors, up to 15 percent have strokes during or soon after surgery. The investigators previously had shown that hardening of the aorta was a risk factor for stroke after cardiac surgery. More than half of the patients in the study had no signs of atherosclerosis. About 24 percent had mild disease, while 13 percent were classified as moderate. The remaining 5 percent had severe atherosclerosis in the aorta.