|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|
a Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA b Ruijin Hospital, The Medical College of Shanghai Jiaotong University, China
Key Words: abdominal aortic aneurysm • thoracic aortic aneurysm • apoptosis • inflammation • pathogenesis
Address for correspondence: Dong-chuan Guo, Ph.D., Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, 6431 Fannin, MSB 6.039, Houston, TX 77030. Voice: 713-500-6849; fax: 713-500-0693. e-mail: Dongchuan.Guo{at}uth.tmc.edu
The major disease processes affecting the aorta are aortic aneurysms and dissections. Aneurysms are usually described in terms of their anatomic location, with thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) involving the ascending and descending aorta in the thoracic cavity and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) involving the infrarenal abdominal aorta. Both thoracic and abdominal aortas are elastic arteries, and share similarities in their physical structures and cellular components. However, thoracic and abdominal aortas differ in their biochemical properties and the origin of their vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). These similarities and differences between thoracic and abdominal aortas provide the basis for the various pathologic mechanisms observed in this disease. This review focuses on the comparison of the pathologic mechanisms involved in TAA and AAA.
|
 |
 |
