Diseases of the Aorta

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the aorta as the main trunk of the systemic arterial circulation and describes its position, function in the body and the manner in which it manifests disease.

Outline:
Aortic Aneurysm
Aortic Coarctation
Aortic Dissection
Echocardiography

From the Paper:

"Clinically, an aneurysm is an abnormal bulging or swelling of a section of a blood vessel and since the aorta carries oxygen-rich blood to every part of the human body, it is technically called an artery. As Glanze points out, an aortic aneurysm is "a localized dilation of the wall of the aorta caused by atherosclerosis," a common arterial disorder characterized by yellowish plaques of cholesterol, lipids and cellular debris in the inner layers of the walls of large and medium-sized arteries (1990, 106). There are three basic types of aortic aneurysms. First, a fusiform aneurysm occurs when all three layers of the vessel are affected, causing weakness along the extended area of the vessel in the form of large, bulging region; second, a dissecting aneurysm in which the weakness develops between the inner and outer layers of the aortic wall, resulting in a bulge as blood from the interior of the vessel is "pushed around the damaged section in the wall and collects between these layers," and third, a saccular aneurysm which occurs only when the middle muscular layer of the vessel exhibits a sack-like bulge."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Glanze, Walter D., Ed. et al. (1990). Mosby's Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Encyclopedia. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby Company.
• Henein, Michael Y. (2004). Echocardiography. London: Springer-Verlag.
• Lindsay, J. (2007). "Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases of the Aorta." Cardiology. Internet. Retrieved from http://www.rjmatthewsmd.com/Definitions/aorta.htm.
• Otto, Catherine M. (2004). Textbook on Clinical Echocardiography. UK: Saunders, Ltd.
• Suqeng, Lissa, Qi-Ling Cao, et al. (March 1997). "Three-Dimensional Echocardiographic Evaluation of Aortic Disorders with Rotational Multiplanar Imaging: Experimental and Clinical Studies." Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. Vol. 10 issue 2, 120-132.

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