# Normative Computed Tomography Angiography Values of the Aortic Root, Aorta and Aortic arch in Children

## TL;DR

This paper provides normative data for aortic measurements in children using ECG-gated CTA, enabling better understanding of vascular development.

## Contribution

The study introduces normative Z-scores and curves for aortic structures in children based on ECG-gated CTA measurements.

## Key findings

- Systolic and diastolic Z-scores for aortic root, aorta, and aortic arch were calculated in children.
- Normative curves were established in relation to body surface area (BSA) for vascular measurements.
- The study used allometric exponents to normalize measurements across different body sizes.

## Abstract

Normative values for intracardiac and extracardiac vascular structures help in understanding normal growth and changes over time in children; this normative data are not currently available for ECG-gated Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA). We sought to establish ECG-gated CTA derived normative values for the aortic root, aorta and aortic arch in children.

Aortic root, ascending aorta, aortic arch, and descending aorta were measured in systole and diastole in 100 subjects who had ECG-gated CTA at our center between January 2015 through December 2020 and met our inclusion criteria. The allometric exponent (AE) for each parameter was derived, and the parameter/body surface areaAE (BSAAE) was established using the previously described methods. Using this data, normalized mean, cross-sectional area, and standard deviation were calculated. Z-score curves were plotted in relation to the BSA for all measurements.

Our study reports systolic and diastolic ECG-gated CTA Z-scores along with normative curves in relation to BSA for the aortic root, aorta and aortic arch in children.