An aortic aneurysm refers to permanent dilatation of a well-defined segment of the aorta, the largest artery in the body that receives blood directly from the left ventricle and distributes it to all tissues.Conversely, when dilatation affects the entire course of the aorta, it is called a “mega-artery.”
Aneurysms involving the abdominal tract of the aorta can be divided into two categories according to where they appear.
The “supra-renal” ones are found in the proximal portion of the abdominal aorta (i.e., closer to the heart); the “sub-renal” ones are located further down, below the branching point of the renal arteries.
“Supra-renal” aneurysms are infrequent, but complex and delicate to treat surgically because a whole series of precautions must be taken during surgery to protect the abdominal organs from ischemia.
“Subrenal” aneurysms are somewhat less challenging for the surgeon, but much more prevalent in the population, accounting for about 80% of cases.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm shows a preference for the male sex, which is affected three times more frequently than the female sex: among those over the age of 60, it accounts for 2 percent of causes of death compared with 0.7 percent among women in the same age group.
