An aortic dissection is a tear in one of the layers of the aorta. The aorta is your body’s largest blood vessel. Your aorta is made up of three layers. When a hole or tear forms in one of these layers ...

Ascending aortic aneurysms are a subtype of thoracic aneurysms, which occur in the chest area. They affect thousands of Americans annually and can be life threatening if not monitored. An aneurysm is ...

The aorta is the largest blood vessel in the human body. It carries blood from your heart up to your head and arms and down to your abdomen, legs, and pelvis. The walls of the aorta can swell or bulge ...

The aortic valve allows blood to leave the heart and travel through the aorta, which is the largest artery in the body. Aortic stenosis is when this heart valve narrows and doesn’t open fully. The ...

The aorta carries oxygenated blood from the left ventricle of the heart to the rest of the body. It is the largest artery in the body, measuring more than 1 inch across in some places. Any blockage or ...

A normal aortic valve is composed of three aortic-valve cusps, each semilunar in appearance. The leaflets are housed within a small dilatation of the proximal aorta associated with each cusp, called ...