Complicated abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a major cause of mortality in elderly men. Ang II-dependent TGF-beta activity promotes aortic aneurysm progression in experimental Marfan syndrome. However, the role of TGF-beta in experimental models of AAA has not been comprehensively assessed. Here, we show that systemic neutralization of TGF-beta activity breaks the resistance of normocholester...

BACKGROUND Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) is a matrix protein of eosinophils and has been reported to reflect eosinophil activity. Few studies have examined the role of eosinophils in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to investigate the serum ECP levels in BD and its relation to clinical activity. METHODS Forty-seven consecutive patients...

Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystemic disorder of unknown etiology characterized by the "triple symptom complex" consisting of recurrent oral aphthosis, genital ulcers, and chronic relapsing bilateral uveitis. Recurrent mucocutaneous lesions are generally considered the hallmark of the disease, being the most common symptoms presenting at the onset of disease. Although the improvement of kno...

UNLABELLED Abdominal aortic aneurysms and abdominal hernias become an important health problems of our times. Abdominal aortic aneurysm and its rupture is one of the most dangerous fact in vascular surgery. There are some theories pointing to a multifactoral genesis of these kinds of diseases, all of them assume the attenuation of abdominal fascia and abdominal aortic wall. The density and cont...

Spinal "stroke" is an uncommon cause of paraplegia. Spinal cord infarction from unruptured aortic aneurysm is rare. When encountered it poses diagnostic challenge to the clinician due to its rarity, which may lead to incorrect or delayed diagnosis. We report a case of 62-year-old man presenting to casualty as caudaequina syndrome due to spinal cord infarction secondary to emboli from an infra r...

Methods Between June 1996 and November 2012, 21 patients who underwent aortic valve sparing for aortic root aneurysm were retrospectively reviewed. Mean age was 45 ± 16 years. 9 patients had Marfan syndrome and one patient had Takayasu arteritis. All patients had tricuspid aortic valve except one patient with bicuspid valve, and 15 patients showed moderate or severe degree of aortic regurgitati...

We report a case of hybrid thoracic endovascular aortic repair for intercostal patch aneurysm after thoracoabdominal aortic replacement. Eighteen years ago, a 63-year-old woman with Marfan syndrome had undergone thoracoabdominal aortic replacement with reimplantation of the intercostal artery in an island fashion. Follow-up computed tomography (CT) revealed a remaining intercostal patch aneurys...

Spontaneous dissecting aneurysm of the aorta in man is most commonly a sequel of hypertension but sometimes occurs in association with degenerative liquefaction of the media of the aorta. New light has been thrown upon dissecting aneurysm by its production in growing rats by a diet high in sweet peas. The offending agent has been isolated and a number of simpler related compounds have been synt...