Diagnosis and Treatment of Aortic Diseases, 1999
Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine Series, Vol. 212

This book is an up-to-date summary of all aspects of aortic disease, written by international experts in their fields, covering diagnostic concepts of all aortic diseases, the most modern therapeutic approaches in various aortic syndromes, the pathogenic origin and the most recent molecular and cellular findings that have revolutionized our present knowledge of aortic diseases. The reader will come to understand the aorta as a functional organ with a complex regulatory system rather than just a major arterial vessel, and will have a better understanding of the prognostic impact of various aortic syndromes, and of the most recent therapeutic concepts for chronic as well as acute aortic pathology. As a unique feature of this book, the aorta is placed in the center of systemic illnesses, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, infectious diseases and connective tissue disorders, storage diseases, trauma and toxic factors, this concept aims to attract the attention of both clinical specialties such as cardiology, radiology and cardiovascular surgery and adjacent areas like pathology and clinical genetics. The book portrays the aorta as an integral part of the cardiovascular system and the entire organism and features the complexity and clinical impact of all major aortic diseases.

1. Aortic Dissection.- 1.1. Introduction.- 1.2. Definition.- 1.3. Etiology and pathogenesis.- 1.4. Classification.- 1.5. Clinical presentation.- 1.6. Diagnosis.- 1.7. Management of acute aortic dissection.- 1.8. References.- 2. Aortic Aneurysm.- 2.1. Etiology.- 2.2. Pathophysiology.- 2.3. Diagnostic approach.- 2.4. References.- 3. Surgical Treatment of Aortic Aneurysms.- 3.1. Introduction.- 3.2. Pathogenesis and natural history.- 3.3. Diagnosis.- 3.4. Indications for surgery.- 3.5. Surgical techniques.- 3.6. Results.- 3.7. Endovascular stent-grafting of descending thoracic aortic aneurysm.- 3.8. Endovascular stent-grafting of abdominal aortic aneurysm.- 3.9. Summary.- 3.10. References.- 4. Inherited Disorders of the Aorta.- 4.1. Introduction.- 4.2. Single gene disorders.- 4.3. Genetic basis to common aortic diseases.- 4.4. Acknowledgments.- 4.5. References.- 5. Aortic Trauma.- 5.1. Demography and mechanism.- 5.2. Pathology.- 5.3. Clinical presentation.- 5.4. Natural history.- 5.5. Infrequent locations of traumatic aortic lesion.- 5.6. Diagnosis.- 5.7. Acknowledgments.- 5.8. References.- 6. Aortitis.- 6.1. Introduction.- 6.2. Etiology and historical perspective to Takayasu’s aortitis.- 6.3. Pathophysiology.- 6.4. Diagnostic procedures.- 6.5. Pathology.- 6.6. Treatment/management.- 6.7. Outcome.- 6.8. Other aortic inflammatory diseases.- 6.9. Conclusion.- 6.10. References.- 7. Etiology and Pathology of the Aortic Arch Malformations.- 7.1. Development of the aortic arch system.- 7.2. Obstructive anomalies of the aortic arch.- 7.3. Other anomalies of the aortic arch.- 7.4. Supravalvular aortic stenosis.- 7.5. Dysplasia of the great arteries [“Maccheroni syndrome”].- 7.6. Bicuspid aortic valve and aortic dissection.- 7.7. Anatomo-pathologic experience at the Universityof Padua.- 7.8. References.

'References are both comprehensive and unusually current. This is an excellent volume to find information about aortic pathology, particularly of the thoracic aorta. It also has a good discussion of modern diagnostic techniques ... will be of most value to cardiologists, interventionalists, and pathologists rather than surgeons.'Journal of Vascular Surgery (March 2000)