Aortic disease includes anything that leads either to progressive enlargement of the aorta (aneurysm formation) or a tear in the aorta (aortic dissection)

Aortic emergencies are responsible for more deaths than prostate cancer.  Aortic diseases comprise:

• Aneurysms (swellings of the aorta which may eventually rupture);
• Aortic aneurysms are insidious; they cause little in the way of symptoms until it is too late;
• Aortic diseases may be present from birth or the result of lifestyles;
• Developmental (present from birth) abnormalities of the aorta and its major branches;
• In the last 20 years, a modern genetic techniques have identified a number of hereditary syndromes (Marfan's, Ehlers-Danlos, Loeys-Dietz) that predispose to the development of aortic aneurysms in young people;