Nonsurgical Abolition of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

A67-year-old woman presented with clinical evidence of expansion of an aortic aneurysm previously acquired after a deceleration trauma. The patient complained of frequently recurring interscapular and back pain and beginning hoarseness. In the differential diagnostic workup, pneumothorax and pulmonary embolism were excluded. The patient underwent MRI of the thoracic aorta and gadolinium-enhanced 3-dimensional MR angiography (MRA) that demonstrated morphological evidence of a fist-size intrathoracic aortic aneurysm (Figure 1A⇓). Selective angiography excluded significant coronary artery disease and confirmed the diagnosis of a true aneurysm of the descending thoracic aorta (Figure 2A⇓). Because dimensional evaluation of the …