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Acute Aortic Disease.. - Index of

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Natural History <strong>of</strong> Thoracic <strong>Aortic</strong> Aneurysms 177<br />

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Figure 3 Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) family pedigrees selected from over 500<br />

family pedigrees. Squares represent men and circles, women. An arrow indicates the<br />

proband with a TAA. Blackened circles or squares represent affected patients with aortic<br />

aneurysms.<br />

new elastin is limited. In the aortic wall, collagen is responsible for the tensile<br />

strength <strong>of</strong> the vessel, whereas elastin is responsible for its recoil capacity.<br />

Fibrillin is another structural protein that contributes to the micr<strong>of</strong>ibrillar<br />

organization <strong>of</strong> the extracellular matrix. The micr<strong>of</strong>ibrillar construction functions<br />

as scaffolding for the deposition <strong>of</strong> elastin during elastogenesis. A mutation in<br />

fibrillin has been demonstrated in patients with Marfan’s syndrome.<br />

The aorta is categorized as an elastic artery with three defined layers—the<br />

intima, media, and adventitia. The intima consists <strong>of</strong> single layer <strong>of</strong> endothelial cells<br />

that rest on a basal lamina. The intimal cells rest on a subendothelial tissue comprised<br />

<strong>of</strong> collagen and elastin fibers, fibroblasts, and a mucoid ground substance.

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