erally from the aortic arch. Enlargement of the nipple is usually due to dilation of the left superior intercostal vein as it heads for the left innominate vein lateral to the aortic arch. Where the superior vena cava or, occasionally, the inferior vena cava-is obstructed, the aortic nipple becomes prominent and enlarged (1-4); according to Friedman et al. (1), a nipple larger than 4.5 mm in di...

OBJECTIVE Aortic aneurysm, focal dilation of the aorta, results from impaired integrity of aortic extracellular matrix (ECM). Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are traditionally known as ECM-degrading enzymes. MMP2 has been associated with aneurysm in patients and in animal models. We investigated the role of MMP2 in thoracic aortic aneurysm using 2 models of aortic remodeling and aneurysm. AP...

A 59-year-old man with past medical history of thoracic aortic aneurysm treated with thoracic endovascular aortic repair presented with melena for 2 weeks. Initial EGD did not reveal the source of bleeding and showed normal esophagus; abdominal arteriogram did not reveal a fistulous communication and initial CTA showed normal position of the aortic graft stent without endoleak. The sixth EGD re...

CONTEXT Managing thoracic aortic aneurysms identified incidentally by increased use of computed tomography, echocardiography, and magnetic resonance imaging is problematic, especially in the elderly. OBJECTIVE To ascertain whether the previously reported poor prognosis for individuals with thoracic aortic aneurysms has changed with better medical therapies and improved surgical techniques tha...

OBJECTIVES To determine normal limits for ascending and descending thoracic aorta diameters in a large population of asymptomatic, low-risk adult subjects. BACKGROUND Assessment of aortic size is possible from gated noncontrast computed tomography (CT) scans obtained for coronary calcium measurements. However, normal limits for aortic size by these studies have yet to be defined. METHODS In...

Dear Editor, Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) are independently well established techniques for treating aortic valve stenosis and thoracic aortic aneurysms. The co-existence of both lesions in patients occurs as they share similar risk factors but the treatment of patients with these combined lesions and high surgical risk remains u...

BACKGROUND Vertebral artery variations are common in thoracic aortic patients. If patients have the aberrant left vertebral artery, the more difficult to determine the treatment modality. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 63-year-old man with an aberrant left vertebral artery originating from an aneurysmal aortic arch. The patient underwent a successful hybrid thoracic endovascular ao...

Rupture of the thoracic aorta is a rare but recognized complication following pregnancy. The common causes of thoracic aortic rupture in the peripartum period are trauma, dissecting aneurysms and saccular aneurysms secondary to systemic connective tissue disease. We report a case of non-traumatic spontaneous aortic rupture in a patient without trauma or systemic connective tissue disease 1 day ...

Mycotic aneurysms constitute a small proportion of aortic aneurysms. Endovascular repair of mycotic aneurysms has been applied with good short-term and midterm results. However, the uncommon aortoenteric fistula formation remains a potentially fatal complication when repairing such infective aneurysms. We present the case of an 80-year-old woman with thoracic and abdominal aortic mycotic aneury...

Pseudoaneurysms are rare complications occurring after prosthetic ascending or aortic arch replacement for the treatment of dissections, aneurysms and aortic dilatation with or without aortic valve pathology, and are a consequence of suture line weakness and increased tissue fragility. However, in cases of thoracic aorta reconstructive surgery, the occurrence of false aneurysms or dissections o...