. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jun 8.

Published in final edited form as: Circulation. 2010 May 17;121(22):2462–2508. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0b013e3181d44a8f

Table 9.

Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance of Thoracic Aortic Diseases

Disease of Aorta	Unique Contributions of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
Atherosclerosis and penetrating ulcer	• Identify aortic wall pseudoaneurysm, noncommunicating dissection, aortic rupture³⁴⁰–³⁴²
Aneurysm	• Etiology (eg, atherosclerosis, annuloaortic ectasia)³³²–³³⁴
	• Assess associated changes in aortic valve (ie, regurgitation)³⁴³
	• Presurgical planning and postsurgical follow-up
Traumatic injury	• Identify hemorrhage within aortic wall
	• Differentiate partial versus circumferential tears
Dissection	• Identify acute versus chronic
	• Locate entry and exit flaps and extent of dissection
	• Measure flow in true and false lumen
	• Identify and assess severity of aortic valve pathology³⁴⁴,³⁴⁵
	• Differentiate intramural hematoma³²³,³⁴⁶,³⁴⁷
Aortitis	• Measure aortic wall thickness in response to treatment
	• Detection of wall inflammation³⁴⁸–³⁵⁰