Morphological variations of the human ascending aortic fold.

The ascending aortic fold, a fibrofatty epicardial fold embracing the middle part of the human ascending aorta, was studied in 90 black South African hearts for structural variation. The fold was present in all specimens. It was oblique in 51 cases, horizontal in 17, vertical in 2, oval in 2, horizontal-oblique in 4, vertical-oblique in 6, vertical-horizontal in 3, vertical-horizontal-oblique in 1 and oval-oblique in 1. The oblique form corresponds to the 'classic' form described in the literature.