AORTIC DIMENSIONS IN TALL MEN AND WOMEN

Subjects with the Marfan syndrome are at risk for sudden death from aortic regurgitation, dissection or rupture. The severity of aortic regurgitation correlates with the degree of aortic root dilation, not annular dilation.1,2 The risk of aortic dissection increases with aortic enlargement.1,2 Aortic dissection may occur with only moderate aortic root dilation.1 Because Marfan patients with nonenlarged aortic roots are thought to be at low risk for aortic dissection and rupture,1 it is critical to define an enlarged aortic root. Nomograms that have been published for normal aortic root dimensions have not included a sufficient number of healthy subjects whose height exceeds the 95th percentile,3-7 usually present in Marfan patients. Thus, we do not know the normal aortic root dimensions for subjects whose body size is equivalent to those with the Marfan syndrome. This study examines the acceptable upper limit of normal for the aortic root in healthy subjects taller than the 95th percentile. The data were sought for use in determining which Marfan patients have aortic roots of greater than normal size, thus warranting pharmacologic intervention and activity restriction. © 1993.