Aortic dimensions and stiffness in normal adults.

Practicing physicians are familiar with the term “aortic unfolding,” which is used in chest X-ray reports to describe an aging change and generally assume that this term represents proximal aortic dilation. “Unfolding” is often associated with aortic calcification, which implies aortic degeneration. The degree of ascending aortic dilation with age is relatively small and out of proportion to the aortic unfolding observed in the chest X-ray.