Intraoesophageal rupture of a thoracic aortic aneurysm

The intraoesophageal rupture of a large thoracic aortic aneurysm is reported in a 49 year old man. He had been hypertensive for some years while the aneurysm increased in size. Although a graft was successfully inserted to repair the leak, infection from the oesophagus with candida albicans, subsequently led to secondary haemorrhage and death 17 days later. A plea is made for the earlier referral of patients with aneurysm prior to rupture, as the operative mortality rises markedly after rupture has occurred and in this case the situation was virtually irreparable.