Age-related change in calcifications in the thoracic aorta: a study with computed tomography.

Calcifications in the thoracic aorta at the level of the 11th and the 12th thoracic vertebrae in 592 men and 333 women were studied using computed tomography. The ages ranged from 40 to 88 years. Incidence of calcification increased proportionally to the advancing age from the forties to the eighties in men, and from the fifties to the seventies in women: incidence of calcification (%) = 2.41 X age (years)-113 in men (p less than 0.01); incidence of calcification (%) = 3.16 X age (years)-160 in women (p less than 0.01). Calcification index (CI) was calculated as an indicator of calcification in the thoracic aorta: (calcified portion along the entire circumference of the aorta) X 80. The CI in the subjects with calcifications increased with the advancing age both in men and women: CI = 0.200 X age (years)-4.47 in men (p less than 0.01); CI = 0.312 X age (years)-12.7 in women (p less than 0.01).