Aorta with saccular aneurysm
Object numberGC.10512
TitleAorta with saccular aneurysm
DescriptionAneurysm of aorta.
From a female aged 68 years who died after an operation for pseudomyxoma peritonei. There had been gradual distension of the abdomen during the previous six months with increasing dyspnoea. The W.R. was strongly positive and radiographs of the chest revealed an aneurysm of the aorta. At operation a large ovarian cyst and much myxomatous material in the peritoneal cavity were removed. Post mortem examination showed pseudomyxomatous nodules scattered over the visceral and parietal peritoneum and there was considerable blood in the peritoneal cavity. The liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas and lungs showed no gross abnormality. Depth was attributed to circulatory failure upon blood loss into the peritoneal sac.
The preparation consists of the heart, the arch of the aorta and upper part of the descending thoracic aorta and portions of the large aortic branches.
The heart is of average size and normal in shape. The pericardium is smooth and the subepicardial fat is not excessive. The auricles are not enlarged and the endocardium is healthy. The tricuspid and mitral valves are a little dilated. The muscle of the right ventricle is perhaps slightly hypertrophied. The pulmonary valve is normal and likewise the sortie valve. The coronary artery seen has a patent lumen but its wall is markedly atheromatous. The arch of the aorta from just above the sortie valve to the origin of the left subclavian artery is markedly dilated and the saccular dilatation extends to the right and upwards. Its wall is wrinkled and yellow in colour with flat plaques of calcification scattered throughout. A short distance below the origin of the innominate artery there is an orifice with rounded margins leading to a false aneurysm which lay in the right upper mediastinum. This false aneurysm has a fibrous wall several millimetres in thickness and contains mural thrombus. The origin of the innominate artery is dilated and its walls atheromatous. The descending aorta shows atheroma and calcified plaques. Just distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery there is a calcified atheromatous ridge which slightly narrows the lumen. The primary aortic lesion was doubtless a syphilitic aortitis, the characters of which have been obscured by superimposed atheroma.
Production date 1953
Object nameAORTA
Object categoryAnatomical, specimen
Dimensions
- Height: 16.6 cm
Width: 19.4 cm
Depth: 9.2 cm