Normative Aortic Valvar Measurements in Adults Using Cardiac Computed Tomography -A Potential Guide to Further Sophisticate Aortic Valve-Sparing Surgery

Background: A thorough understanding of the anatomy of the aortic valve is necessary for aortic valve-sparing surgery. Normal valvar dimensions and their relationships in the living heart, however, have yet to be fully investigated in a 3-dimensional fashion. Methods and Results: In total, 123 consecutive patients (66 +/- 12 years, Men 63%) who underwent coronary computed tomographic angiography were enrolled. Mid-diastolic morphology of the aortic roots, including height of the interleaflet triangles, geometric height, free margin length of each leaflet, effective height, and coaptation length were measured using multiplanar reconstruction images. Average height of the interleaflet triangle, geometric height, free margin length, effective height, and the coaptation length were 17.3 +/- 1.8, 14.7 +/- 1.3, 32.6 +/- 3.6, 8.6 +/- 1.4, and 3.2 +/- 0.8mm, respectively. The right coronary aortic leaflet displayed the longest free margin length and shortest geometric height. Geometric height, free margin length, and effective height showed positive correlations with aortic root dimensions. Coaptation length, however, remained constant regardless of aortic root dimensions. Conclusions: Diversities, as well as characteristic relationships among each value involving the aortic root, were identified using living-heart datasets. The aortic leaflets demonstrated compensatory elongation along with aortic root dilatation to maintain constant coaptation length. These measurements will serve as the standard value for revealing the underlying mechanism of aortic regurgitation to plan optimal aortic valve-sparing surgery.

Automated summary

A study using coronary computed tomographic angiography investigated the anatomy of the aortic valve, revealing diversities and characteristic relationships among valvar dimensions. The aortic leaflets exhibited compensatory elongation to maintain a constant coaptation length.