Thoracic aortic aneurysm overview

Editor-in-Chief: Amjad AlMahameed, MD, MPH, RPVI, FACP. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Boston, USA

Overview
Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) encompass all aneurysms the aorta between the aortic root and the crura of the diaphragm. The aortic root and the ascending thoracic aorta are the most common sites of TAAs (60%), followed by the descending thoracic aorta (40%). Involvement of the aortic arch and/or extension of a TAA into the abdominal aorta (AA) (so called thoracoabdominal aneurysms) are relatively uncommon subsets (each encountered in 10% of cases or less).