TABLE 1.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study groups

	Group
Variable	TAA (n = 28)	TAD (n = 60)	Control (n = 111)
Male sex	21 (75%)	46 (77%)	63 (57%)
Mean age ± SD (y)	67.2 ± 10.0	59.9 ± 12.6	51.7 ± 11.0
Age range (y)	42-81	22-81	17-80
Smoking history
None	5(18%)	22 (37%)	*
Current	10(36%)	11 (18%)	*
Past	13(46%)	27 (45%)	*
Previous cardiac-aortic surgery	7 (25%)	29 (48%)	*
Coronary artery bypass	4	7	0
Aortic valve replacement	0	7	*
Ascending aorta	1	19	0
Aortic arch	1	6	*
Descending thoracic aorta	1	2	*
Abdominal aorta	2	1	*
Thoracoabdominal aorta	2	0	*
Taking lipid-lowering medication	19(68%)	23 (38%)	*
Family history of aneurysm	4 (14%)	4 (7%)	*
Family history of dissection	0	3 (5%)	*
Bicuspid aortic valve	0	1 (2%)	*
Arteritis	0	1 (2%)	*
Rupture	1 (4%)	1 (2%)	NA
Location of degenerative aneurysm(s)
Aortic root	3 (11%)	0	NA
Ascending aorta	10 (36%)	2 (3%)†	NA
Transverse aortic arch	6 (21%)	0	NA
Descending thoracic aorta	1 (4%)	0	NA
Thoracoabdominal aorta	17 (61%)	1 (2%)†	NA
Acuity of dissection
Acute	2 (7%)†	13 (22%)	NA
Chronic	1 (4%)†	47 (78%)	NA
Extent of dissection
DeBakey type 1	0	25 (42%)	NA
DeBakey type II	1 (4%)†	11 (18%)	NA
DeBakey type III	2 (7%)†	24 (40%)	NA
Mean no. of segments involved ± SD ‡	2.6 ± 1.4	2.9 ± 1.3	NA
Mean maximum aortic diameter ± SD (cm)	6.2 ± 1.3	6.1 ± 1.4	*
Range of maximum aortic diameter (cm)	4.0-9.0	3.6-10.0	*

TAA, Thoracic aortic aneurysm; TAD, thoracic aortic dissection; SD, standard deviation; NA, not applicable.

^*Not obtained.

^†Three patients had both thoracic aortic aneurysm and thoracic aortic dissection and are included in both groups.

^‡Based on involvement of up to 5 aortic segments: ascending, transverse arch, descending thoracic, suprarenal abdominal, and infrarenal abdominal.