A simple and reliable tool to quantify calcium burden of ascending aorta

Methods Ten thoracic CT scans (TCMD General Electric LightSpeed VCT 64 Slices) of octogenarian subjects were analysed by two radiologists and one vascular surgeon, using the Osirix Pro Software. A 3D reconstruction of the ascending thoracic aorta was obtained from the annular plane to the origin of the innominate trunk. The outer curvature maximal length was measured; therefore this value was divided by ten Region Of Interest (ROI) points. At each ROI an exact perpendicular section of the aorta was obtained, whose calcium involvement was expressed as a percentage. The overall calcium burden was expressed as the mean of the ten measurements.