Ascending Aortic Calcification as a Potential Predictor for Low Bone Mineral Density: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: Identifying the factors related to low bone mineral density (BMD) can have significant implications for preventing hip fractures. The correlation between ascending aortic calcification and BMD has never been reported. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to confirm the hypothesis that ascending aortic calcification can be used as a predictive factor for low BMD and to find a radiographic sign to show it. METHOD: Plain film and computed tomography (CT) images of the thorax were obtained from 91 patients with hip fractures. Using the images, the calcification line of the ascending aorta adjacent to the aortic arch was evaluated. A prominent calcification line confirmed by both plain film and CT was classified as +2. A line which was ambiguous on plain film but confirmed by CT was classified as +1. Cases with no calcification were categorized as 0 (control). We compared the classified score with the BMD and calculated the kappa coefficient to measure intraobserver reliabilities for this radiographic finding. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients showed a +2 line, twenty-four patients showed a +1 line, and thirty-nine patients showed 0 lines. The median BMD of each group was 0.37 for the +2 line, 0.45 for the +1 line, and 0.51 for the 0 line. The BMD for the +2 group was significantly lower than the others. The kappa coefficient was approximately 0.6 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The imaging finding of calcification of the ascending aorta might be considered as a potential surrogate marker of low BMD. In such subjects, BMD might be ordered for the confirmation of diagnosis of osteoporosis. Mini-Abstract. The Aortic Arch Tail Sign, a calcification line on the ascending aorta, was relevant to low BMD in the current study. BMD can be ordered for the confirmation of diagnosis of osteoporosis in a subject incidentally found to have ascending aorta calcification on X-ray or CT.