Aortic Aneurysm

Abstract
An evaluation of the management of patients with aneurysm of the aorta seems timely because of new and promising methods of treatment. The risks of nonoperative and operative treatment are presented from the experiences with 101 patients admitted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania during the years 1950 through 1955. Follow-up data indicate that the mortality of nonoperative treatment is considerably greater than that of excision of the lesion, in spite of the poor operative risk of many patients in this group. The nonoperative mortality within 1 year of diagnosis was approximately 50 per cent. Many of these patients died of rupture of the aneurysm.