Arterial Age and Early Vascular Aging, But Not Chronological Age, Are Associated With Faster Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Growth

BACKGROUND: Aneurysm size is an imperfect risk assessment tool for those with thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA). Assessing arterial age may help TAA risk stratification, as it better reflects aortic health. We sought to evaluate arterial age as a predictor of faster TAA growth, independently of chronological age. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined 137 patients with TAA. Arterial age was estimated according to validated equations, using patients' blood pressure and carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity. Aneurysm growth was determined prospectively from available imaging studies. Multivariable linear regression assessed the association of chronological age and arterial age with TAA growth, and multivariable logistic regression assessed associations of chronological and arterial age with the presence of accelerated aneurysm growth (defined as growth>median in the sample). Mean±SD chronological and arterial ages were 62.2±11.3 and 54.2±24.5 years, respectively. Mean baseline TAA size and follow‐up time were 45.9±4.0 mm and 4.5±1.9 years, respectively. Median (interquartile range) TAA growth was 0.31 (0.14–0.52) mm/year. Older arterial age (ß±SE for 1 year: 0.004±0.001, P<0.0001) was independently associated with faster TAA growth, while chronological age was not (P=0.083). In logistic regression, each 5‐year increase in arterial age was associated with a 23% increase in the odds of accelerated TAA growth (95% CI, 1.085–1.394; P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Arterial age is independently associated with accelerated aneurysm expansion, while chronological age is not. Our results highlight that a noninvasive and inexpensive assessment of arterial age can potentially be useful for TAA risk stratification and disease monitoring as compared with the current clinical standard (chronological age).