In my previous life at a biomedical imaging company, I was amazed to discover how many surgeons are “OR Cowboys”, and simply start cutting without much preoperative visualization. In a new study from doctors and researchers with the American College of Cardiology, they researched several biomedical imaging technologies (MRI, fluoroscopy, MDCT, echocardiography, etc) to determine which is the most accurate, and (most importantly) how the preoperative imaging altered the surgical course to improve outcomes and save time.
To date, there is no established consensus on how to measure the aortic valve annulus and which imaging technique to use as gold standard. In the majority of the centers, the aortic valve annulus is measured with transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiography at the parasternal long-axis view or at the 120� longitudinal view, respectively. However, 3-dimensional imaging techniques such as MDCT or magnetic resonance imaging demonstrate an elliptical shape of the aortic valve annulus with two principal diameters: the minimum and the maximum.5 This finding may have important implications on the selection of the prosthesis size.
via Multi-modality Imaging in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.
I agree with you about size, shape etc…of the aorta valve before do any surgery but the most important is consistency, calcification and so far. Any comments about it ?