[Aneurysms from the viewpoint of medical history]

The history of arterial aneurysms dates back to the old Egypts, Byzantines and Greeks. Vesal 1557 and Harvey 1628 introduced the disease into modern medicine. They diagnosed a pulsating tumor intra vitam and confirmed the aneurysm at autopsy. Further corner stones during the 18th and beginning of the 19th century were the monographs of Lancisi and Scarpa, the latter beautifully illustrated. The first effectful therapy was external compression, the second ligature of the artery proximal to the aneurysm, which was pioneered by John Hunter in 1785. Endoaneurysmoraphy (Matas) and wrapping by cellophane were performed, before diagnostic ultrasound and bypass surgery became routine procedures and improved dramatically the survival of the patients. The diagnostic and therapeutic problems in the middle of the 20th century are illustrated by the fate of two prominent patients, Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann, who died both of a ruptured aneurysm in 1955.