[The surgical treatment of ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm with use of permanent bypass]

Two surgical cases with ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm were reviewed. Case 1 was a 74-year-old female, and Case 2 was a 77-year-old female. In both cases, chest X-ray examination revealed a mass like shadow in the left superior mediastinum, and aortography demonstrated a ruptured saccular aneurysm distal to the left subclavian artery. Midsternotomy and an incision over the third left intercostal space were made to approach the aneurysm. Since inflammatory adhesion was marked in the perianeurysmal area, a permanent bypass was placed between the ascending and descending aorta followed by exclusion of the aneurysm. One of the two cases was alive, but the other case was died due to bleeding from the area of permanent aortic clamp.