Measuring the aorta in the era of multimodality imaging: still to be agreed

Thoracic aortic dilatation is associated with major vascular complications with fatal consequences, such as dissection and aortic rupture. We can predict the risk of rupture or dissection based on aortic size (1,2). Broad spectrum of aortic complications benefits from different cardiac imaging techniques: transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Therefore, aortic dilatation is one of the most frequent clinical entities for request in cardiac imaging laboratories, both for the initial diagnosis and the monitoring and establishment of the optimal timing for surgery.