Treatment of Aneurysms and Occlusive Disease of the Aorta by Resection

Aneurysms and occlusive lesions comprise the most common and serious forms of aortic disease. Both of these conditions have a grave prognosis, producing in most cases progressively disabling symptoms and ultimately lethal complications. In aneurysms of the thoracic aorta, for example, it has been demonstrated that the average duration of life after onset of symptoms is less than a year. 1 Although life expectancy is somewhat better in aneurysms of the abdominal aorta, it is nonetheless greatly reduced. Thus, in a careful follow-up study of 102 cases, Estes 2 found that one-third of these patients died within a year after the diagnosis was established, mostly from rupture of the aneurysm, and that only 10% of these patients at age 65 years have a normal life expectancy. These observations assume additional significance in light of recent studies by Maniglia and Gregory 3 showing the increasing frequency of arteriosclerotic aneurysms of the