Aortic Aneurysms: Pathogenesis and Treatment

Aortic aneurysms are common and may be lethal if undetected and leading to rupture. Aortic disease is among the leading cause of death in the United States with aneurysm disease specifically being the 13th leading cause. Along with increasing life expectancy, the frequency with which cardiovascular specialists will encounter patients with aortic disease is also increasing. Therefore, it is important that physicians who deal with the aging population, such as cardiac surgeons, vascular surgeons, and cardiologists be familiar with the diagnosis and management principles of aortic aneurysms. The lack of effective medical therapy makes timely surgical intervention the only viable treatment option for aortic aneurysms once they attain a certain diameter. Unfortunately, aortic aneurysms are clinically silent until patients present with catastrophic aortic rupture.

George J. Arnaoutakis, MD, is an assistant professor in the division of cardiovascular surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He is also the director of the physician assistant residency program, surgical director of the transcatheter valve program, associate director of the UF Health Aortic Disease Center, and director of the UF Health Comprehensive Bicuspid Valve program.
He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Heart Association, the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, or STS, and the STS Database Task Force on Longitudinal Follow-up and External Linkages. Additionally, Dr. Arnaoutakis has presented at national meetings, authored 130 peer reviewed journal articles and over a dozen book chapters, and is on the editorial board for Journal of Cardiac Surgery.
 
Gilbert R. Upchurch Jr., MD, is the Copeland/Horowitz Chair at the University of Florida (UF) Department of Surgery. He joined UF in 2017 as an internationally acclaimed clinician, researcher and educator. Earning his MD at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Dr. Upchurch trained at Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital as well the Cleveland Clinic. Before joining UF, he served as chief of vascular and endovascular surgery and the medical director of the Heart and Vascular Center at the University of Virginia, where he was also the William H. Muller Jr. Professor of Surgery.

Dr. Upchurch is a clinician scientist with multiple NIH R01’s studying aortic aneurysms. He has given over 500 invited/extramural lectures, while also publishing over 515 papers in refereed journals and 115 book chapters. Dr. Upchurch maintains an active role on numerous peer-reviewed journals, serving on the editorial boards of the Annals of Surgery and JACS. He has also served as editor/ associate editor on 18 books. He has served as Chair of the Vascular Surgery Board and was on American Board of Surgery Council. Presently, he is on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Surgery.

Dr. Upchurch is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a member of the American Surgical Society, the Halsted Society, and the Society for Vascular Surgery (Distinguished Fellow). He is Past President of the Southern Surgical Association, the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, and the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery. Currently he is an officer in the Society of Surgical Chairs and Vice President of the Halsted Society. Dr. Upchurch was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021 and won the prestigious Flanz-Karl Award from the American Surgical Association in 2025.
 
Ibrahim Sultan, MD is an associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the Universityof Pittsburgh. He is also the Director of the Center for Thoracic Aortic Disease and the Surgical Director of the Center for Heart Valve Disease at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He serves as the associate program director for the integrated thoracic surgery residency at UPMC.
  
He is a fellow of the American college of surgeons and the American College of Cardiology. He is a member of the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons, Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the American Heart Association. He serves as a principal investigator on multiple research trials, has published more than 200 articles on cardiovascular and aortic disease, and is a member of multiple editorial boards such as Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery and Journal of Cardiac Surgery.