Eliathamby D, Gutierrez M, Liu A, et al. - Researchers aimed at ascertaining the role of ascending aortic length and diameter in type A aortic dissection. Using multiplanar reconstruction, the analyzed computed tomography scans from patients with acute type A dissections (n = 51), patients with proximal thoracic aortic aneurysms (n = 121), and controls with normal aortas (n = 200) from aortic annulus to the innominate artery. In the control group, ascending aortic length correlated with diameter (r ² = 0.35), age (r ² = 0.17), and gender. Following adjustment for diameter, age, and gender, the predissection aortic lengths were estimated to be 16 mm longer than those in the controls and 12 mm longer than in patients with nondissected thoracic aneurysms. These findings suggest the possible utility of the length of the ascending aorta in discriminating patients with type A dissection from normal controls and patients with nondissected thoracic aneurysms after adjustment for age, gender, and aortic diameter.