Usefulness of tissue doppler imaging for assessing aortic wall stiffness in children with the Marfan syndrome.

The purpose of this study was to assess wall motion velocities of the abdominal aorta using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in 12 patients with Marfan syndrome and 30 age-matched normal controls. The patients with Marfan syndrome displayed an increased aortic stiffness index in the abdominal aorta, and significant relationships were observed between wall motion velocities of the abdominal aorta and the aortic stiffness index. Thus, TDI analyzes aortic expansion and contraction velocities and allows the identification of abdominal aortic stiffness in patients with Marfan syndrome.