ObjectiveTo compare the ascending aortic diameter and postoperative outcomes of patients with simple ascending aortic dissection or simple ascending aortic dilatation and to study the reliability of the surgical indication in present guideline for Chinese patients with ascending aortic dilatation.MethodsThe clinical data of patients with aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection who underwent surgery at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University from 2010 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. After exclusion of patients with Marfan syndrome, heart valve and other diseases, 139 patients were divided into two groups: a simple ascending aorta dilatation group (56 patients) and a simple ascending aortic dissection group (83 patients). The ascending aortic diameter and postoperative outcomes of two groups were compared. ResultsThe inner ascending aortic diameter (57.30±9.41 mm vs. 50.72±9.53 mm, P <0.001) and the inner ascending aortic diameter index (31.12±5.38 vs. 27.22±6.40, P<0.001) in the simple ascending aorta dilatation group were significantly greater than those in the simple ascending aortic dissection group. For male patients, the results were similar (60.28±10.80 mm vs. 47.40±6.53 mm; 30.00±6.33 vs. 23.60±3.72, both P<0.001). But for the female patients, there was no significant difference between the two groups (54.90±7.47 mm vs. 53.81±10.84 mm; 32.03±4.37 vs. 30.58±6.56, both P>0.05). The mortality, the incidence of tracheotomy and postoperative reopen rate in the simple ascending aortic dissection group were higher.ConclusionIn this study, the inner diameter of the ascending aorta in the group of ascending aorta is mostly < 5.5 cm. In our opinion, the present surgical indication for Chinese patients with ascending aortic dilatation is not enough. In the future clinical studies, we also need to find more reasonable surgical indications.