title: [Inflammatory aneurysm of the abdominal aorta. Review of the literature of the past 30 years].
abstract: A careful review of the available literature on the clinical and pathologic features of the so-called inflammatory aneurysm of the abdominal aorta is reported. The etiology of this peculiar disease is still obscure and controversial, even if the current trend is to define it as an immunomediate phenomenon consisting on an "exaggerated" inflammatory response to atherosclerosis. Suggestions about the similarity or identity from the pathologic viewpoint, of inflammatory aneurysm, periaortic fibrosis and idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis are attractive, but not universally accepted. The surgical treatment aims at the same objectives than for atherosclerotic aneurysms (i.e. prevention of rupture); operative management is however endangered by greater difficulties which hopefully may be reduced in the coming years by the use of corticosteroids and mainly through the wider application of endografting procedures.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Clinica Chirurgica I, Dipartimento di Chirurgia Pietro Valdoni, Policlinico Umberto I, Cattedra di Chirurgia Generale, Università La Sapienza, Roma.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cavallaro
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sapienza
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: di Marzo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mosiello
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: La Fauci
mesh_terms: D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000209:etiology; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D001025:Aortitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D012307:Risk Factors