A 72-year-old man who had chest pain and an abnormal myocardial perfusion scan was brought to the cardiac catheterization laboratory for evaluation. The patient had a history of refractory hypertension and had experienced symptoms of intermittent claudication for several years. A guidewire could not be passed to the aortic arch via the femoral approach; descending thoracic aortography revealed ...

A56-year-old man presented with sudden severe chest and back pain. His chest x-ray showed a slight prominence on the upper descending thoracic aorta. Aortic dissection (type B) was visible on transesophageal echocardiography and CT. Coronary angiography showed normal coronary arteries. MRI and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) confirmed the diagnosis of type B aortic dis...

We report three patients with a descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (DTAA) and a separate infra-renal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) who had initial endovascular repair of the DTAA followed by repair of AAA. Endovascular stent repair of DTAA avoids the significant morbidity associated with thoracotomy and open repair. Hence more patients with multilevel aortic aneurysm may be eligible for surg...

Severe atherosclerosis of the descending aorta is directly related to atheroembolic events. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a sensitive technique for evaluating such atheroma plaques of the thoracic aorta which may predict the risk of emboli. We describe a patient with severe intraluminal aortic atherosclerotic plaques detected by TEE while positioning an Intraaortic Balloon Counterpu...