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Review
. 2016:2016:4726094.
doi: 10.1155/2016/4726094. Epub 2016 Feb 4.

Imaging Techniques for Diagnosis of Thoracic Aortic Atherosclerosis

Wouter W Jansen Klomp  1 , George J Brandon Bravo Bruinsma  2 , Arnoud W van 't Hof  3 , Jan G Grandjean  4 , Arno P Nierich  5
Affiliations
Review

Imaging Techniques for Diagnosis of Thoracic Aortic Atherosclerosis

Wouter W Jansen Klomp et al. Int J Vasc Med. 2016.

Abstract

The most severe complications after cardiac surgery are neurological complications including stroke which is often caused by emboli merging from atherosclerosis in the ascending aorta to the brain. Information about the thoracic aorta is crucial in reducing the embolization risk for both surgical open and closed chest procedures such as transaortic heart valve implantation. Several techniques are available to screen the ascending aorta, for example, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), epiaortic ultrasound, TEE A-view method, manual palpation, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. This paper provides a description of the advantages and disadvantages of these imaging techniques.

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