Introduction

Abstract

The following section in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery contains papers and discussions from the Aortic Surgery Symposium VIII, sponsored by Mount Sinai Medical Center, which took place in New York on May 2 and 3, 2002. These aortic surgery symposia are held every 2 years; they alternate in format between traditional presentations of concepts and results followed by discussions, and (as planned for 2004) video demonstrations, with subsequent discussions that focus on surgical technique. This year’s symposium (like those in the past that concentrated on innovative ideas and analysis of current outcomes) is reflected by the content of this supplement.The papers included herein were invited contributions by the faculty (an internationally recognized group of authorities on aortic disease) or papers selected from submitted abstracts. Each paper is either an original study, an up-to-date summary of the experience of a surgeon or a center, or an overview of current knowledge. Some of the papers analyze results with accepted techniques in the hands of experienced leaders in the field; others are presentations of new and sometimes provocative and controversial ideas or methods. A few of the papers presented at the symposium and mentioned in the discussions are not included in this supplement because they reflect work recently published by the same authors in this journal or elsewhere. As indicated in the Table of Contents, each group of papers is followed by a discussion among the participants. In addition to addressing controversial issues raised by the presentations, each discussion also includes responses to questions from symposium participants, and some attempts to assess current practice among those surgeons attending the symposium. The discussions have been reproduced almost verbatim to allow an appreciation of differences of opinion as well as areas of consensus among the panelists.Taken together, we believe that the 31 short papers and four discussions provide an excellent up-to-date overview of the natural history, diagnosis, and treatment of aortic disease. We are most grateful to the authors and discussants who made this compendium possible. The following section in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery contains papers and discussions from the Aortic Surgery Symposium VIII, sponsored by Mount Sinai Medical Center, which took place in New York on May 2 and 3, 2002. These aortic surgery symposia are held every 2 years; they alternate in format between traditional presentations of concepts and results followed by discussions, and (as planned for 2004) video demonstrations, with subsequent discussions that focus on surgical technique. This year’s symposium (like those in the past that concentrated on innovative ideas and analysis of current outcomes) is reflected by the content of this supplement. The papers included herein were invited contributions by the faculty (an internationally recognized group of authorities on aortic disease) or papers selected from submitted abstracts. Each paper is either an original study, an up-to-date summary of the experience of a surgeon or a center, or an overview of current knowledge. Some of the papers analyze results with accepted techniques in the hands of experienced leaders in the field; others are presentations of new and sometimes provocative and controversial ideas or methods. A few of the papers presented at the symposium and mentioned in the discussions are not included in this supplement because they reflect work recently published by the same authors in this journal or elsewhere. As indicated in the Table of Contents, each group of papers is followed by a discussion among the participants. In addition to addressing controversial issues raised by the presentations, each discussion also includes responses to questions from symposium participants, and some attempts to assess current practice among those surgeons attending the symposium. The discussions have been reproduced almost verbatim to allow an appreciation of differences of opinion as well as areas of consensus among the panelists. Taken together, we believe that the 31 short papers and four discussions provide an excellent up-to-date overview of the natural history, diagnosis, and treatment of aortic disease. We are most grateful to the authors and discussants who made this compendium possible.