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Ascending aorta dilatation is associated to hard cardiovascular events, follow-up from multicentric ARGO-Perspective project

Hypertension Research volume 46, pages 2016–2023 (2023)Cite this article

A Comment to this article was published on 16 August 2023

Abstract

Aortic root dilatation has been proposed as hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD). Nevertheless, the role of the aortic root dilatation as a possible additional HMOD is still unclear since studies conducted so far are quite heterogeneous regarding the type of population analyzed, the aortic tract considered, and the type of outcomes accounted for. The aim of the present study is to assess whether the presence of aortic dilatation is associated with strong cardiovascular (CV) events (MACE: heart failure, CV death, stroke, acute coronary syndrome, myocardial revascularization) in a population of patients affected by essential hypertension. Four hundred forty-five hypertensive patients from six Italian hospitals were recruited as part of ARGO-SIIA study1. For all centers, follow-up was obtained by re-contacting all patients by telephone and through the hospital’s computer system. Aortic dilatation (AAD) was defined through absolute sex-specific thresholds as in previous studies (41 mm for males, 36 mm for females). Median follow-up was 60 months. AAD was found to be associated with the occurrence of MACE (HR = 4.07 [1.81–9.17], p < 0.001). This result was confirmed after correction for main demographic characteristics such as age, sex and BSA (HR = 2.91 [1.18–7.17], p = 0.020). At penalized Cox regression, age, left atrial dilatation, left ventricular hypertrophy and AAD were identified as best predictor of MACEs and AAD resulted a significant predictor of MACEs even after correction for these confounders (HR = 2.43 [1.02–5.78], p = 0.045). The presence of AAD was found to be associated with an increased risk of MACE independently of for major confounders, including established HMODs.

AAD ascending aorta dilatation, LAe left atrial enlargement, LVH left ventricular hypertrophy, MACEs major adverse cardiovascular events, SIIA Società Italiana dell’Ipertensione Arteriosa (Italian Society for Arterial Hypertension).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the centers that participated in the study. We would like to thank Prof. Maria Lorenza Muiesan, Prof. Daniela Degli Esposti, Cristina Giannattasio and Prof. Nicola De Luca who supervised the study, Deborah Stassaldi and Sara Cappellini who helped in the collection of data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Sciences, Hypertension Center—University of Torino—AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Torino, Italy

    Lorenzo Airale, Francesco Borrelli & Alberto Milan

  2. SC Medicina Interna, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Terni, Terni, Italy

    Alessio Arrivi, Rosa Curcio & Giacomo Pucci

  3. Cardiothoracic and Vascular Department, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy

    Alessandro Baracchi, Federico Ruscelli & Mario Soldati

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Fabio Bertacchini, Anna Paini & Massimo Salvetti

  5. Echo Lab, Cardiologia IV, De Gasperis Department, ASST Niguarda Ca Granda e Dip Medicina e Chirurgia, Università Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy

    Iside Cartella, Martina Milani & Antonella Moreo

  6. Hypertension Research Center, Federico II University Hospital, Napoli, Italy

    Raffaele Izzo, Maria Lembo, Costantino Mancusi & Maria Virgina Manzi

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  1. Lorenzo Airale
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  2. Francesco Borrelli
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Correspondence to Alberto Milan.

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Airale, L., Borrelli, F., Arrivi, A. et al. Ascending aorta dilatation is associated to hard cardiovascular events, follow-up from multicentric ARGO-Perspective project. Hypertens Res 46, 2016–2023 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01340-9

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