Mechanisms of Aortic Aneurysm Rupture

Dear Colleagues,

Aortic aneurysms (AAs) are the 15th leading cause of death in men of all races over 55 years of age, and have a prevalence of 10% in the population over age 85. The actual incidence of death from aortic aneurysm disease is likely grossly underestimated, as many patients will die at home before making it to hospital and their death will be ascribed to “heart attack” rather than aortic aneurysm. Currently there are no medical therapies to inhibit the growth of aortic aneurysm formation, with open or endovascular surgery being the only means to treat this deadly disease. It is important to note that more than half of all aneurysms are asymptomatic and undetected until dissection, rupture, or incidental identification during imaging (CT, ultrasound) for other medical conditions.

In most cases, the average patient has a known aneurysm for 5 years before it reaches the size when surgical repair is recommended or required. This waiting period offers a potential therapeutic target window to prevent surgical repair and a successful medical therapy. Despite aggressive monitoring of patients with increasing aortic dilation, mortality rates from aneurysm formation, dissections, and rupture remain alarmingly high. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of aneurysm pathology are critical to developing a nonsurgical treatment in humans.

This Special Issue, devoted to "Mechanisms of Aortic Aneurysm Rupture," invites high-quality research papers focusing on the mechanisms attempting to explain aortic aneurysm rupture in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) or descending thoracic aortic aneurysms (dTAAs). Topics of interest include the following:

• Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs)
• Descending thoracic aortic aneurysms (dTAAs)
• Aortic rupture
• Inflammation
• Cytokine signaling
• Cell-cell interactions
• Smooth muscle cells
• Macrophages
• T-cells

Prof. Morgan Durette Salmon
Guest Editor

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