Comparison of Aortic Root Dimension Changes During Cardiac Cycle Between the Patients With and Without Aortic Valve Calcification Using ECG-gated 64-slice and Dual-source 256-slice Computed Tomography Scanners: Results of a Multicenter Study

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study seeks to compare aortic dimension changes during cardiac cycle in patients with and without aortic valve calcification and to evaluate its correlation with aortic valve calcium score in former group.

Detailed Description
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The study population comprised 104 patients referred to three cardiac imaging centers for coronary multislice computed tomography, including 52 patients with aortic valve calcification as the study group and 52 subjects without evidence of calcification in their aortic valve, who served as a control group. Data were reconstructed at each 10% of RR-interval during the cardiac cycle and reconstructed images at 30-35% and 70-75% of R-R intervals were obtained, representing systole and diastole, respectively. For diastolic phase, in most cases images at 70% were acquired. Thereafter, acquired images were transferred to a single remote workstation for post-processing and subsequent off-line analysis.

Conditions
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Aortic Valve Calcification

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: - Patients referring for multislice coronary computed tomography for any reason Exclusion Criteria: Arrhythmia Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Aneurysm formation of ascending aorta Marfan's disease Ehlers-Danlos syndrome History of coronary artery bypass surgery History of coronary stenting Aortic valve surgery Thoracic aorta surgery Aortic valve stenosis

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 20 Years
Maximum Age: 90 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| aortic root dimension change<br>those without aortic valve calcification | |
| aortic root dimension change, aortic valve calcium score<br>those with aortic valve calcification | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Evidence of aortic root dimension change confirmed by multislice CT in systolic phase (30% of R-R interval) compared to diastolic phase (70% of R-R interval) after retrospective ECG gating | Detailed information about aortic root dimension changes during cardiac cycle has become of utmost interest especially after introduction of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) as an alternative therapeutic procedure in patients with severe aortic stenosis, in that paravalvular regurgitation and procedural failure will ensue from errors in selecting the appropriate prosthesis size | during a few heat beat (8 to 13 seconds) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Aortic annulus, Aortic calcification, Multislice computed tomography, Cardiac cycle