Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computed Tomography for the Noninvasive Assessment of Arterial Aging: A Review by the VascAgeNet COST Action

Abstract

Aging; Aorta; Calcification

Envelliment; Aorta; Calcificació

Envejecimiento; Aorta; Calcificación

Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography allow the characterization of arterial state and function with high confidence and thus play a key role in the understanding of arterial aging and its translation into the clinic. Decades of research into the development of innovative imaging sequences and image analysis techniques have led to the identification of a large number of potential biomarkers, some bringing improvement in basic science, others in clinical practice. Nonetheless, the complexity of some of these biomarkers and the image analysis techniques required for their computation hamper their widespread use. In this narrative review, current biomarkers related to aging of the aorta, their founding principles, the sequence, and postprocessing required, and their predictive values for cardiovascular events are summarized. For each biomarker a summary of reference values and reproducibility studies and limitations is provided. The present review, developed in the COST Action VascAgeNet, aims to guide clinicians and technical researchers in the critical understanding of the possibilities offered by these advanced imaging modalities for studying the state and function of the aorta, and their possible clinically relevant relationships with aging.

This article is based upon work from COST Action CA18216 VascAgeNet, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, www.cost.eu). A. Guala has received funding from Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (IJC2018‐037349‐I) and from “la Caixa” Foundation (LCF/BQ/PR22/11920008). S. Piskin has received funding from the European Research Executive Agency, Marie‐Sklodowska Curie Actions‐Global Individual Fellowship (101038096), and from Istinye University, Scientific Research Projects project (2019B1). P. Wohlfahrt's work was supported by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant no. NV 19‐09‐00125. J. Alastruey was supported by the British Heart Foundation under Grant PG/15/104/31913, the Wellcome Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Centre for Medical Engineering at King's College London under Grant WT 203148/Z/16/Z, and the UK Department of Health through the National Institute for Health Research Cardiovascular MedTech Co‐Operative at Guy's and St Thomas' National Health Service Foundation Trust under grant MIC‐2016‐019.