Abdominal aorta
Read Your Scan Editorial Team·Last updated
Written from published radiology references and reviewed for plain language. Not written or signed by a physician, and not a diagnosis. How we write these pages →
In plain language
The main artery running down the back of the abdomen. Reports comment on its calibre and on calcification in its wall, both of which are routinely described even when normal.
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Where you'll see this
This wording turns up on Abdominal CT reports — CT imaging of the abdomen. An abdominal CT shows the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, bowel, blood vessels, and lymph nodes in fine detail. Doctors order it for abdominal pain, to look into a suspected stone, infection, or blockage, or to check known findings. Because it is so detailed, it often notes small, harmless things by chance. The report describes what the images show; your doctor reads it together with your symptoms and other results.
Questions worth asking your doctor
- What was the main reason for this CT, and did it answer that question?
- Were any findings incidental, and do any of them need follow-up?
- If a stone or cyst was seen, does it need treatment or monitoring?
- Do the results change my current care or medications?
- Is there anything I can do about findings like fatty liver?
How common is this?
The abdominal aorta is described on essentially every abdominal CT and most abdominal ultrasounds, whether or not anything is wrong with it. It is the main artery carrying blood down the back of the abdomen before dividing to supply the legs. Two things are routinely commented on: its width, and calcification in its wall — and both appear in reports on people whose aorta is entirely normal.
When should I worry?
Calcification in the aortic wall is very common with age and, on its own, is a marker of the general condition of the arteries rather than a problem in its own right. What is measured with more care is diameter. A normal adult abdominal aorta is usually up to about 2 cm; widening beyond 3 cm is called an aneurysm and is followed by size, because risk rises with diameter and most small ones are simply watched. Sudden severe abdominal or back pain in someone known to have an aneurysm is an emergency — but that is a symptom to act on, not something read off a routine report.
What happens next
For calcification alone, the follow-up is not to the aorta but to cardiovascular risk generally: blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and diabetes, since the same process affects arteries elsewhere. For a widened aorta, the standard approach is surveillance scanning at intervals set by the diameter, with repair discussed only once size or growth crosses a threshold. Most aneurysms found incidentally are small and never need anything but monitoring.
Frequently asked questions
- Is aortic calcification serious?
- By itself it is a common age-related finding rather than a condition needing treatment. It is worth knowing about because it reflects what is happening in arteries generally, so it usually prompts attention to blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking rather than anything aimed at the aorta.
- What size of abdominal aorta is normal?
- Broadly up to about 2 cm in an adult, with 3 cm the threshold at which the word aneurysm is used. Between those the aorta may be described as ectatic, meaning slightly wide but not aneurysmal — a finding usually followed rather than treated.
- Does an aortic aneurysm always need surgery?
- No, and most do not. Small aneurysms are monitored with scans at set intervals, because the risk of repair outweighs the risk of the aneurysm until it reaches a certain size or is growing quickly. That threshold is a decision made by a vascular specialist with the measurements in hand.
Other words on the same report
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