Aortic Aneurysm

Aortic aneurysm

An aneurysm is a pathological protrusion of the vessel wall, characterized by an increase in its diameter. Aneurysms often have a sac-like shape and are localized in places of physiological narrowing of blood vessels or abnormal communication between an artery and veins (at the origin of the renal, innominate arteries, etc.). The causes may be long-term hypertension, atherosclerosis, syphilis, or nonspecific changes in the vascular wall.

The site of aneurysm formation most often is the bifurcation area. With atherosclerosis, the disease usually develops in elderly people, in places of so-called main stenoses - in the lower parts of the abdominal aorta, renal artery, carotid artery; less often and above the branching site of the aoa and at the bifurcation trunks (femoral branches, sciatic trunk), least often in the ascending aoa (mesenteric arteries). The zone of the most pronounced aneurysmal transformation occurs at a length of the aoa of about 5 cm. A significant number of anatomical changes are noted in the walls of this section, indicating the predominance of atherogenesis. Atherosclerotic changes in the walls are more pronounced in the aorta compared to the trunk. This is explained by the presence of deposits of atherosclerotic masses in the extramural tissue of the lower third of the abdominal cavity.