Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be

going through Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms. You can find written notes on this topic at zero tofinals.com

slash TAA or in the Cardiothoracic Surgery section of the Zero to Finals Surgery Book.

So let's get straight into it.

A Thoracic aeurysm refers to dilation of the thoracic aorta.

The most commonly affected area is the ascending aorta immediately after the aorta exits the heart.

The diameter of the thoracic aorta varies depending on several factors, for example age and body size,

but is normally less than 4.5 centimeters for the ascending aorta and less than 3.5 centimeters for the descending aorta.

The first time a patient may become aware of an aneurysm is when it ruptures, causing life-threatening

bleeding into the medistinal cavity. This has an extremely high mortality. Let's talk about false aneurysms. There are three

layers to the aorta, the intimer, the media and the adventitia. False aneurisms, or

pseudo-annurisms occur when the two inner layers, the Intimer and the media,

rupture and there's dilation of the vessel, with blood only being contained within the outer

or adventitia layer of the aorta.

This typically occurs after trauma, such as a road traffic accident.

It can also occur after surgery to the aorta or infection in the vessel.

True aneurysms are where there's dilation of all three layers which remain intact,

with an increased diameter of the aorta.

Let's talk about the risk factors.

Men are affected significantly more often and at a younger age than women.

Other risk factors are increased age, smoking, hypertension, family history,

existing cardiovascular disease, and Marfan syndrome and other connective

...