Fate of the moderately diseased aorta: a single-center experience

Introduction
The fate of the aorta after tube graft replacement remains unclear.

Aim
We investigated the evolution of aortic dilatation after non-aortic cardiac operations and the dimensions of the root and arch after ascending aorta replacement.

Material and methods
From 252 patients with aortic dilatation operated on between January 2010 and June 2019, 160 were followed with CT angiography. Two groups were formed according to the initial operation. Group I (n = 36) included patients with a dilated aorta, unreplaced during different indication cardiac surgery. Group II (n = 124) included patients receiving tube graft aorta replacement with or without aortic valve replacement. Mean preoperative and follow-up diameters of the different aortic segments were compared in both groups using the two-sided paired t-test for repeated measurements.

Results
Eighteen patients died during follow-up, with one death occurring during reoperation for a false aneurysm of the distal anastomosis on the aortic arch. There was no other re-operation for aortic aneurysm, rupture or dissection. In group I the aortic arch diameter increased slightly, while the rest of the aortic segments remained stable. In group II the aortic root diameter decreased slightly while the aortic arch remained stable.

Conclusions
Ascending aorta replacement with a tube graft remodeled the aortic root and did not allow progressive dilatation of the aortic arch. In patients with moderate ascending aorta dilatation, the unreplaced ascending aorta and aortic root remained relatively stable but the aortic arch increased slightly during follow-up.