Post-Traumatic Aortic Insufficiency Occurring in Marfan's Syndrome, with Attempted Repair with a Plastic Valve

ALTHOUGH approximately 300 cases of Marfan's syndrome1 have been reported in the literature it is only recently that the cardiovascular manifestations have been emphasized.2 Since the original description of this disease by Marfan3 in 1896, it has been recognized as a dominant hereditable disorder of connective tissue involving the musculoskeletal, the ocular and the cardiovascular systems (Table 1). Although the exact etiology and pathogenesis are as yet unrecognized, some metabolic derangement of the elastic fibers may be involved. Dissecting aortic aneurysms and other cardiovascular lesions similar to those seen in patients with Marfan's syndrome have been produced experimentally in rats . . .