About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
A thoracic aortic aneurysm is a weakened and bulging area in the upper part of the aorta, the major blood vessel that feeds blood to the body. The aorta, about the thickness of a garden hose, runs from your heart through the center of your chest and abdomen. Because the aorta is the body's main supplier of blood, a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm can cause life-threatening bleeding. Although you may never have symptoms, finding out you have a thoracic aortic aneurysm can be frightening.
Most small and slow-growing thoracic aortic aneurysms don't rupture, but large, fast-growing aneurysms may. Depending on the size and rate at which the thoracic aortic aneurysm is growing, treatment may vary from watchful waiting to emergency surgery. Once a thoracic aortic aneurysm is found, doctors will closely monitor it so that surgery can be planned if it's necessary. Emergency surgery for a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm can be risky.
- Aneurysm. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/arm/arm_all.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Woo YJ, et al. Management and outcome of thoracic aortic aneurysm. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Woo YJ, et al. Clinical features and diagnosis of thoracic aortic aneurysm. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Marfan syndrome. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/mar/mar_all.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Hiratzka LF, et al. 2010 ACCF/AHA/AATS/ACR/ASA/SCA/SCAI/SIR/STS/SVM guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with thoracic aortic disease: Executive summary. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2010;55:27.
- Wang GJ, et al. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on