Tuberculous Pseudoaneurysm of Descending Thoracic Aorta

Abstract

<h3>Introduction</h3> Tuberculous aortitis is a rare disease, while tuberculous infection of the small blood vessels is more frequently encountered. In 1933, Gellerstedt and Säfwenberg¹reviewed 21 cases of tuberculous aortic aneurysm. Meehan²in 1957 found 28 cases of tuberculous aortic aneurysm and 1 of tuberculous aortitis in the literature. Stiefel,³in a comprehensive survey a year later, collected 47 cases of tuberculous aortitis. Of these, 37 were aneurysms. Recently Volini¹⁷found 99 cases of tuberculous aortitis in the literature, and 43 of these were aneurysms. Most reported tuberculous aneurysms of the aorta were postmortem findings.^4-10A review of the literature discloses that cures affected by surgery are the exception, not the rule. Herndon¹¹in 1952 resected a tuberculous aneurysm of the abdominal aorta. The patient died 13 days postoperatively. In 1955, Rob and Eastcott¹²succeeded in resecting a tuberculous aneurysm of the abdominal