Impact of aortic arch curvature in flow haemodynamics in patients with transposition of the great arteries after arterial switch operation

Aims In this study, we will describe a comprehensive haemodynamic analysis and its relationship to the dilation of the aorta in transposition of the great artery (TGA) patients post-arterial switch operation (ASO) and controls using 4D-flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Methods and results Using 4D-flow MRI data of 14 TGA young patients and 8 age-matched normal controls obtained with 1.5 T GE-MR scanner, we evaluate 3D maps of 15 different haemodynamics parameters in six regions; three of them in the aortic root and three of them in the ascending aorta (anterior-left, -right, and posterior for both cases) to find its relationship with the aortic arch curvature and root dilation. Differences between controls and patients were evaluated using Mann-Whitney U test, and the relationship with the curvature was accessed by unpaired t-test. For statistical significance, we consider a P-value of 0.05. The aortic arch curvature was significantly different between patients 46.238 +/- 5.581 m(-1) and controls 41.066 +/- 5.323 m(-1). Haemodynamic parameters as wall shear stress circumferential (WSS-C), and eccentricity (ECC), were significantly different between TGA patients and controls in both the root and ascending aorta regions. The distribution of forces along the ascending aorta is highly inhomogeneous in TGA patients. We found that the backward velocity (B-VEL), WSS-C, velocity angle (VEL-A), regurgitation fraction (RF), and ECC are highly correlated with the aortic arch curvature and root dilatation. Conclusion We have identified six potential biomarkers (B-VEL, WSS-C, VEL-A, RF, and ECC), which may be helpful for follow-up evaluation and early prediction of aortic root dilatation in this patient population.