Prosthetic aortic graft replacement of the ascending thoracic aorta alters biomechanics of the native descending aorta as assessed by transthoracic echocardiography
Fig 1
Representative examples of descending aortic strain assessed pre- and post- ascending aortic graft implantation in patients with congenital or genetically associated AA associated (top) and degenerative (bottom) AA.
Circumferential strain over the entire cardiac cycle is represented by the red curve (upper right panel) from which systolic and diastolic frames were used to compute global circumferential strain (GCS); corresponding end-diastolic and end-systolic border delineation are represented by green and yellow circles (lower left). Note increased circumferential strain (Δ = 4.78) in a patient with congenitally associated aortic aneurysm (bicuspid aortic valve), despite similar pre-operative strain (Δ = 1.38) in a patient with a degenerative aortic aneurysm.