An expansion, or ballooning, of a section of the aorta within your chest (thorax) that slowly degenerates. The aorta, the body\u2019s main blood vessel, starts at your heart and extends all the way to your pelvis, where it branches toward your legs. The larger the aneurysm, the higher the risk it may rupture, leading to damage of the aortic wall and bleeding that could cause death.<\/p>\n
Thoracic aortic aneurysms are rare, occurring in approximately 6-10 per every 100,000 people. About 20% of those cases are linked to family history. Your risk is higher if you have certain genetic syndromes (see \u201cCauses\u201d below), as you age, if you smoke and if you have high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
An expansion, or ballooning, of a section of the aorta within your chest (thorax) that slowly degenerates. The aorta, the body\u2019s main blood vessel, starts at your heart and extends all the way to your pelvis, where it branches toward your legs. The larger the aneurysm, the higher the risk it may rupture, leading to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1073,"parent":72,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/conditions.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-99","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n