A case of a 44 years old man with chronic chest pain since one year and two episodes of stroke, secondary to a giant ruptured syphilitic aortic arch aneurysm and left carotid and left subclavian arteries occlusion, is reported. The patient has been successfully operated through a median sternotomy and antegrade selective cerebral and distal corporeal continuous perfusion. Technical details of the total surgical correction performed and bibliographic review, concerning different aspects of tertiary syphilitic cardiovascular compromise are discussed.
Aortic aneurysm; Aorta; Syphilis, cardiovascular; Aortitis, syphilitic; Aortic rupture
