Management of Aortic Intramural Hematoma

Intramural aortic hematoma is a life-threatening disease and all patients with intramural hematoma of the ascending aorta should be treated by surgery on an emergency basis. Conversely, uncomplicated descending aortic hematoma may not require surgical treatment, especially if the pain and expansion of the hematoma can be controlled with antihypertensive therapy. However, further studies are needed to define the treatment. Towards this goal we report the clinical features and treatment of two recent cases of intramural aortic hematoma.