CARDIOVASCULAR
SYSTEM
Fig.
1.8
Syphilitic
aneurysm
of the
arch
of the
aorta.
F/73.
The
aortic wall
is
thickened
and
there
are
numerous
wrinkled, whitish plaques
on the
intimal
surface.
The
aneurysm
is
filled with
a
blood
clot. Syphilitic aneurysm
of the
aorta
was
first defined
as an
entity
in the
18th
century.
One of the
features noted about
these aneurysms
was
that
they enlarged
anteriorly
and
eroded through
the
anterior
chest wall, producing
a
pulsatile swelling.
Death
occurred when
the
aneurysm
ruptured.
Fig.
1.9
Syphilitic
aneurysm
of the
arch
of the
aorta.
M/55. This British
soldier
had
pain
in his
chest
for
about
2
years.
The
aneurysm then appeared
on
his
anterior chest wall
and
continued
to
grow
until
it
ruptured
1
year later. This
specimen
was
prepared
by
John Hunter
in
about 1770
and is
displayed
in the
Museum
of the
Royal
College
of
Surgeons
in
London. This
was a
well recognized
complication
of
syphilitic aortitis.
Fig. 1.10 Takayasu's
arteritis.
M/26.
A
patient from Papua
New
Guinea, where this
condition
is
relatively common,
but not as
common
as in
Japan
and
other parts
of
southeast Asia.
The
aortic wall
is
thickened,
and
there
are
thick yellow
plaques
on the
intima.
The
walls
of the
innominate
and
both common carotid
arteries
are
thickened
and
their lumina
are
narrowed.
The
left
subclavian artery
is
almost completely occluded.
The
consequences
of
these occlusions
give
rise
to the
name
for
this condition: 'pulseless
disease'.
The
gross
and
microscopic
appearances
of
this condition
are
identical
to
those
of
syphilis,
but it is not
caused
by
spirochaetal infection.
It
occurs mainly
in
young adults,
but its
exact aetiology
is not
known.
Fig.
1.12
Fig. 1.11
Arteriovenous
aneurysm.
M/22. This
man
developed
a
bulging, red, pulsating right
eye
following
a
head
injury
while fighting.
The
condition developed because
of
communication between
the
carotid artery
and the
cavernous
sinus
as a
result
of the
trauma.
Fig. 1.12
Saphena
varix. F/42.
The
specimen consists
of a
2
cm
diameter aneurysm
of the
long saphenous vein. This lesion
presented
as a
lump
in the
groin
and the
differential
diagnosis
was
a
femoral hernia.
Fig. 1.13
Traumatic
aneurysm
of the
left
superficial
temporal
artery- M/25. This
was
treated
by
local excision
of
the
affected segment
of
artery.
Fig. 1.13
5
Fig 1.11