Pertinent Insights into the Imaging of Patients with Marfan Syndrome
Emphasizing the role of radiologists in facilitating timely diagnosis of Marfan syndrome, Alan Braverman, M.D. discussed the use of echocardiography, CT, and MRI in evaluating patients with this genetic aortic condition.
While Marfan syndrome is a clinical diagnosis, Alan C. Braverman, M.D., FACC, noted in a recent interview that radiologists play an “invaluable” role in facilitating early diagnosis of this genetic aortic condition.
“They can be the first to put the words into a clinician's mind that this condition that they're seeing on imaging could be something much more,” emphasized Dr. Braverman, the director of the Marfan Syndrome and Aortopathy Center at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.
“When there are combinations of findings — root aneurysm, tortuous arteries, mitral valve prolapse — when these features are seen on an imaging study, not just reporting them in diameters accurately, but also suggesting the possibility of something more, like Marfan syndrome or some genetic aortic condition when unexplained in a young person, in particular, can be so helpful to the clinician. It's invaluable.”
For patients with Marfan syndrome, Dr. Braverman emphasized complete assessment of the proximal aorta. Noting that an enlarged aortic root is common in this patient population, Dr. Braverman said the diameter of the aortic root generally exceeds 40 millimeters in younger male patients and 37 millimeters in younger female patients.
While these findings can be visualized very well on echocardiogram, cross-sectional imaging with computed tomography angiography (CTA) or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) are recommended for initial diagnosis in adult patients and can aid in differentiating between Marfan syndrome and other conditions, such as Loeys-Dietz syndrome, noted Dr. Braverman, a professor of medicine and alumni endowed professor of cardiovascular diseases at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
(Editor’s note: For related content, see “Improving Adherence to Best Practices for Incidental Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms on CT and MRI,” “Emerging ECG-Based AI Screening Software for Aortic Valve Stenosis Gets FDA’s Breakthrough Device Designation” and “Cardiac Ultrasound Update: FDA Clears Software with 45 Automated Parameters for Echocardiographic Analysis.”)
For more insights from Dr. Braverman, watch the video below.
Could Lymph Node Distribution Patterns on CT Improve Staging for Colon Cancer?
April 11th 2025For patients with microsatellite instability-high colon cancer, distribution-based clinical lymph node staging (dCN) with computed tomography (CT) offered nearly double the accuracy rate of clinical lymph node staging in a recent study.
Could Ultrafast MRI Enhance Detection of Malignant Foci for Breast Cancer?
April 10th 2025In a new study involving over 120 women, nearly two-thirds of whom had a family history of breast cancer, ultrafast MRI findings revealed a 5 percent increase in malignancy risk for each second increase in the difference between lesion and background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) time to enhancement (TTE).
AMA Approves Category III CPT Codes for AI-Enabled Perivascular Fat Analysis from CT Scans
April 9th 2025Going into effect in 2026, the new CPT codes may facilitate increased adoption of the CaRi-Heart software for detecting coronary inflammation from computed tomography scans pending FDA clearance of the technology.
FDA Clears AI Assessment of Ischemic Core Volume on CT with Brainomix 360 Platform
April 8th 2025For patients with acute ischemic stroke, research has demonstrated that automated assessment of ischemic core volume on brain CT scans via the Brainomix 360 software is equivalent to that derived from CT perfusion.
