Thoracic aortic aneurysm with aortic pseudocoarctation involving the left subclavian artery.

ABSTRACT

A 39-year-old man with a thoracic aortic aneurysm and pseudocoarctation underwent graft replacement of the distal arch. The left subclavian artery, which rose just after the aneurysm, was also reconstructed at surgery. The aneurysmal wall was extremely thin, and the adventitia and a small amount of medial tissue were found on histologic examination. Thus, surgical treatment was recommended due to risk of rupture. Furthermore, because aneurysms involved the cervical branch, separate reconstruction was also performed. Endovascular intervention is not appropriate for this group of patients because of the complex kinking of the aorta and the extremely thin aneurysmal wall.