Viktorija Bleizgytė¹, Urtė Daužvardytė¹, Eglė Kymantaitė¹

¹Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine,

Kaunas

Abstract

 

Background. Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is the second most common aortic (Ao) disease and a life-threatening disease due to possible dissection or rupture. Although the morbidity is not high, the number of cases is increasing every year and more often the Ao aneurysm is detected in men, but complications are more common in women. The disease is thought to be associated with familial heredity and genetic diseases at a young age, degenerative processes and arterial hypertension in old age. Aortic aneurysm is often diagnosed randomly in imaging studies and clinical signs appear in the presence of significant Ao dilatation or acute complications.

Aim: to review and analyze the sources of scientific literature related to thoracic aortic aneurysm, the causes of its development, main diagnostic methods and principles of treatment.

Methods: scientific literature sources were searched in PubMed, UpToDate, Cohrane Library, ScienceDirect databases. During the literature review, articles related to thoracic aortic aneurysm, its causes of development, diagnostic possibilities and treatment principles were selected.

Results. Thoracic aortic aneurysm is quite difficult to diagnose because the TAA clinic ranges from asymptomatic to acute aortic failure, which can result in sudden death. TAA expands relatively slowly, at approximately 0.1 cm per year, and requires monitoring of aneurysm growth and possible antihypertensive treatment. When the aortic diameter becomes larger than 5-5.5 cm and there are additional risk factors, surgical treatment is required.

Conclusion. This brief review of the scientific literature presents the main aspects of thoracic aortic aneurysm, its etiology and pathogenesis, principles of diagnosis and treatment.

 

Keywords: thoracic aortic aneurysm, genetic syndrome, aortic aneurysm rupture, dissection.