Abdominal aortic aneurysm historical perspective

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

The etymology of the word aneurysm comes from the Greek word for "dilatation". Abdominal aortic aneurysm as a medical condition has been recognized since ancient times, but was not been successfully treated until the early part of the 20th century.

2nd Century AD

The first historical accounts regarding abdominal aortic aneurysm date from Ancient Rome, more precisely from the 2nd century AD, when Greek surgeon Antyllus tried to treat an abdominal aortic aneurysm with proximal and distal ligature, along with central incision and evacuation of thrombotic material from the aneurysm.

1923

However, attempts to treat the AAA surgically were unsuccessful until 1923. In that year, Rudolph Matas (who also proposed the concept of endoaneurysmorrhaphy), performed the first successful aortic ligation on a human.

1949

Other methods that were successful in treating the AAA included wrapping the aorta with polyethene cellophane, which induced fibrosis and restricted the growth of the aneurysm. Albert Einstein was operated on by Rudolf Nissen with use of this technique in 1949, and survived five years after the operation.