Medical Treatment for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm – Much More Work To Be Done

A 45 year old executive presents to your office for risk assessment after learning that his sister required an ascending aortic aneurysm repair. He is a well-informed man, concerned about his personal risk for aortic disease, and undergoes a cardiac screen which reveals a dilated ascending aortic aneurysm, measuring a maximal diameter of 4.4 cm. His aortic valve is tricuspid. He is non-Marfanoid and asymptomatic. He realizes that he does not yet meet guideline criteria for aortic surgery, but he is also cognizant of the fact that he is approaching the cut-off for surgical intervention. He wishes to minimize his future risk of aortic rupture, dissection and aortic expansion and seeks your input. Should ‘medical treatment’ should be employed at this stage? Is there sufficient basis to initiate any form of pharmacotherapy? Would you start a beta-adrenergic receptor blocker, an angiotensin receptor blocker, a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor (doxycycline), or a statin to reduce his aortic risk for rupture, dissection or need for surgical repair? Does your clinical decision match evidence from existing data? Our paper will address these issues among other questions relevant to the role of medical therapy for thoracic aortic disease.