Aortic Organ Disease Epidemic, and Why Do Balloons Pop?

Abstract

As children, we learned that a balloon blown up to its limit of elasticity would pop. For similar aortic ballooning, we hardly know more. Furthermore, in the 21st century, with a nascent epidemic of aortic-related deaths, there have been no consequential advances in preventing the loss of aortic elasticity or in describing the etiology or injury that causes aortic disease. Nor is there an explanation as to why, in some people the aorta “pops” and in others, the aorta dissects. See p 1098 In the United States between 1999 and 2001, at least 129 533 people died from diseases of the aorta and its branches, excluding carotid and coronary disease—an average of 43 199/year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ICD-10 codes (Table). The upper limit could potentially exceed 46 817 per year. This number is greater than the ≈40 000 people who die annually from breast cancer, homicides, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, or motor vehicle accidents.1 Despite this, little research and even less funding have been allocated to aortic disease research, possibly because disease of a supposedly utilitarian pipe that conveys blood to a pantheon of organs engenders less interest or sympathy in comparison with, for example, cancer. Furthermore, the dismal prognosis of aortic disease, a marker of systemic problems despite successful surgery, has not roused much concern, with a 5-year average survival rate of only 60% in most patients.2 This figure does not differ much from that of stage IB lung cancer. Even the aortic disease–related deaths of media figures such as Albert Einstein, Lucille Ball, Conway Twitty, and John Ritter have fomented little interest. As Western populations age, this most common cause of deaths including sudden death will become an increasing factor in long-term survival. View this table: Deaths Related to Aortic Disease …