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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jun 8.
Published in final edited form as: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Jun 8;55(23):2614–2662. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2009.11.011

Table 9.

Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance of Thoracic Aortic Diseases

Disease of Aorta Unique Contributions
of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (Reference)
Atherosclerosis and penetrating ulcer

  • Identify aortic wall pseudoaneurysm, noncommunicating dissection, aortic rupture (340–342)
Aneurysm

  • Etiology (e.g., atherosclerosis, annuloaortic ectasia) (332–334)

  • Assess associated changes in aortic valve (i.e., 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 pathology (344,345)

  • Differentiate intramural hematoma (323,346,347)
Aortitis

  • Measure aortic wall thickness in response to treatment

  • Detection of wall inflammation (348–350)