Mechanical deterioration underlies malignant behavior of aneurysmal human ascending aorta

The human ascending aorta becomes markedly prone to rupture and dissection at a diameter of 6 cm. The mechanical substrate for this malignant behavior is unknown. This investigation applied engineering analysis to human ascending aortic aneurysms and compared their structural characteristics with those of normal aortas.We measured the mechanical characteristics of the aorta by direct epiaortic echocardiography at the time of surgery in 33...