J Korean Soc Vasc Surg.  2004 Dec;20(2):259-263.

Tuberculous Pseudoaneurysm of the Descending Thoracic Aorta

• Kim SS
• Park SC
• Moon IS
• Koh YB

Abstract

The tuberculous aortic aneurysm is exceedingly rare. Kamen L. first described tuberculous aortic aneurysm in 1899. Since then, only about 40 cases have been reported in the literature 1945 to 2001, and among them only 19 cases have affected the thoracic aorta. The incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis is still reported to be far too high, and the demographic and geographic disease distribution has changed rapidly because of immigration and traveling from endemic areas, and also this is due to the increasing use of immunosuppression or because of HIV cases. Multi-resistant strains and comorbidities impair the effects of medical therapy and so this might result in surgical complications. The tuberculous aortic aneurysm generally occurs in the setting of disseminated tuberculosis, and it has a high mortality rate. This report describes a 35-year-old woman who had miliary pulmonary tuberculosis, and she underwent a surgical operation for tuberculous pseudoaneurysm of the thoracic aorta. Early detection and the proper surgical and medical combination therapy are essential for the optimal treatment of thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm, as was done in this successful case.

Keyword

Tuberculosis; Aneurysm; Thoracic aorta

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aneurysm
Aneurysm, False*
Aorta, Thoracic*
Aortic Aneurysm
Comorbidity
Emigration and Immigration
Female
HIV
Humans
Immunosuppression
Incidence
Mortality
Prevalence
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, Pulmonary