Figure 1

3D visualization of the evolution of a helix in the ascending aorta during the entire cardiac cycle of a patient with BAV (female, 39 years old) (a) At 100 ms the helix occupies only the very proximal part of the ascending aorta. (b) At 230 ms it has grown in volume and length and occupies almost half of the ascending aorta. (c) At 300 ms the very proximal part of the helix vanishes while the distal parts proceed towards the aortic arch. (d) At 400 ms only some remnants of the helix can be seen in the mid-ascending aorta. (e) The summation of all volumes that contributed to the helix during the entire cardiac cycle is the accumulated Helical Volume (HVacc). The absolute (relative) HVmax in this BAV patient was 44.81 ml (57.41%) of the ascending aorta volume. The absolute HVacc was 118.44 ml, the relative HVacc 92.44% of the ascending aorta volume. The temporal helical existence (THex) was 89% of the cardiac cycle, indicating that it persists almost throughout the entire systole and diastole. The absolute HVLacc in this patient was 107.8 mm, the relative HVLacc 100% of the ascending aorta length. HV(I)max was 22.32 ml/m². HV(I)acc was 89.04 ml/m².