Multidetector computed tomography of congenital aortic abnormalities

For many years invasive angiographic techniques have been considered as the gold standard for the assessment of large arterial abnormalities. However, the complexities and complications inherent to invasive imaging have meant that more recently non-invasive techniques such as echocardiography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and multidetector CT (MDCT) have been increasingly used in congenital cardiovascular disorders. In particular, MDCT has emerged as a fundamental tool for the diagnosis and pre-surgical work-up of aortic abnormalities due to its high spatial resolution, large area of coverage, and short scan time, and therefore is now one of the most widely used modalities for the detection of congenital abnormalities of the aorta. The purpose of this pictorial review is to review the spectrum of abnormalities of the aorta than can be reliably detected by MDCT both in infants and in adulthood. Abnormalities of the aortic root, ascending aorta, aortic arch, and descending aorta will be described separately.