title: Labor and vaginal delivery with maternal aortic aneurysm.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Maternal aortic aneurysm can be an unsettling finding for the practicing obstetrician. However, thoracic surgeons generally do not treat asymptomatic aortic aneurysms that are less than 6 cm in diameter in otherwise healthy adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A young nullipara was incidentally found to have a 4.5-cm thoracic aortic aneurysm during prenatal care. After extensive counseling and discussions with thoracic surgeons, anesthesiologists, and perinatologists, the patient requested a trial of labor and underwent an uncomplicated assisted vaginal delivery of a healthy female infant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A vaginal delivery occurred safely in a woman with an asymptomatic aortic aneurysm that was less than 6 cm in diameter and not associated with Marfan's syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, New York University School of Medicine, Bellevue Hospital, New York, New York 10016, USA. mjl5@nyu.edu
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gillen-Goldstein
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Funai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy