Before a look to the future, we should reflect and acknowledge the contributions of those
who came before us, starting with the first description of aneurysm by Galen of Pergamon in …

During the past 50 years, the genetic basis and natural history of aortic disease has been
defined. Surgical methods evolved to reduce mortality and morbidity from bleeding, renal …

Surgical aortic repair has progressed from aneurysm ligation to homografts to Dacron grafts
to totally endovascular interventions. These fields will continue to evolve, and new …

Open thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair is among the most technically
complex surgical procedures performed today. Even in high-volume centers of excellence …

A history of thoracic aortic surgery echoes the names of “giants” in medicine who through
experience, anatomic and physiologic observation, laboratory and clinical experimentation …

A benchmark is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, 1 ''a standard point of reference against
which things may be compared or assessed.''Originally a tool for surveyors, a benchmark …

Aortic aneurysms have been recognized since at least the 2nd century. However, little
progress in their treatment was made until the early 1800s, when surgical ligation of these …

The major diseases affecting the thoracic aorta are aortic aneurysms and acute aortic
dissections. Medical treatments can slow the enlargement of aneurysms, but the mainstay of …

Feature Editor Note—Great strides have been made in understanding the genetic basis of
thoracic aortic disease. While many cases do not have a clear heritable pattern, for those …

Endografting for the treatment of thoracic aortic pathology continues to gain popularity; in
some countries, numbers of endovascular aortic repairs now exceed those of open surgical …