The aorta is your body's largest artery. It has an important job, carrying blood from your heart to the rest of your body. It runs up and down the length of your chest, reaching all the way to your stomach. 

Your aorta looks like a giant candy cane. It's so large that doctors have names for the different parts of it: 

• Ascending aorta: The part that rises from the heart and carries blood up
• Aortic arch: The curved part that branches off into other arteries, which bring blood to your head, neck and arms
• Descending aorta: The part that runs downward through the chest
• Abdominal aorta: That part that runs below the ribs through the stomach and splits at the end, supplying blood to your legs 

Aortic disease can happen in any part of the aorta. Cardiologists, aortic and endovascular surgeons, ​​heart surgeons and ​vascular surgeons all treat aortic disease. It affects both your heart and your blood vessels.

You can have problems with the aortic wall, the blood flow through the aorta or the aortic valve.  

The main types of aortic disease are: 

• Aortic aneurysm: This is a weakness or bulge in the wall of the aorta. You can have a thoracic aortic aneurysm or an abdominal aortic aneurysm. If the aneurysm grows too large, it can cause an aortic rupture — a life-threatening health issue.
• Aortic dissection: The inner wall of the aorta tears, often because of an aneurysm. Blood flows between the layers of the artery wall, which weakens the wall and can make it separate. Because it can cut off blood flow to your organs, it's life-threatening.
• Aortic stenosis: If your aortic valve gets too narrow, it may not be able to open all the way. It can affect blood flow and eventually lead to heart failure. Learn more about ​heart valve disease.
• Aortic blockage: Your aorta can have a blockage in any spot. This is an aortic occlusion. If your aorta becomes totally blocked, it's life-threatening. 

In its early stages, aortic disease may not have any symptoms. Many people don't even realize they have an aortic aneurysm. Doctors tend to find aortic aneurysms by chance, usually while doing imaging for another reason.  

Similarly, you may not know you have aortic stenosis unless you have a workup during a ​cardiology visit. 

Aortic dissection symptoms 

Small aneurysms may not cause any problems. If one grows large, it can rupture or cause your aortic wall to dissect.  

This can cause: 

• Sudden, sharp pain in the chest (people describe it as a feeling of tearing)
• Sudden back pain, often between the shoulder blades
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness
• Sudden weakness or paralysis 

This is a life-threatening emergency. You should call 9-1-1 immediately.

Aortic occlusion symptoms 

If you have a blockage in the aorta, you might only have symptoms if your aorta becomes fully blocked.  

Aortic occlusion symptoms include: 

• Sudden, severe pain in arms, legs or stomach
• Numbness in arms or legs
• Weak pulse in legs or feet 

Aortic occlusion can lead to limb loss and requires immediate treatment.

Aortic stenosis symptoms 

Not all aortic disease is life-threatening. Sometimes, the disease is progressive. Aortic stenosis symptoms may come on more slowly.  

Symptoms include: 

• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Heart palpitations
• Dizziness
• Chest pain (but chest pain isn't usually the main symptom)

The key to treating aortic disease is knowing you have it in the first place.  

At Carilion, our cardiologists, aortic and endovascular surgeons, heart surgeons and vascular surgeons work together to diagnose aortic disease early. For example, if you have a family history of aneurysms, we will screen you for them.  

Other risk factors for aortic aneurysm and aortic disease include: 

• Being over 60
• Being a man
• Having high blood pressure
• Having a history of smoking
• Certain connective tissue disorders (Marfan and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, for example) 

We treat aortic disease in different ways, depending on the severity. Some treatments are lifesaving. Others try to delay valve replacement. 

Non-invasive treatments for aortic disease 

For aortic stenosis or small blockages, your doctor may prescribe: 

• Lifestyle changes: Quitting smoking, lowering blood pressure and eating heart-healthy foods can reduce the risk of worsening your aortic disease.
• Medicine: You may need drugs to control high blood pressure, reduce your risk of blood clots or bring down inflammation. 

Interventional and surgical treatments for aortic disease 

For blockages that are growing, worsening aortic stenosis or aortic aneurysm, your doctor may suggest an interventional procedure. 

For example, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (​​TAVR) is an aortic stenosis treatment that replaces your aortic valve without surgery. 

Doctors can repair some aortic aneurysms, depending on their size and location, with an endovascular procedure. Endovascular is a less invasive surgical technique that uses only small incisions.  

Endovascular aortic aneurysm treatments include: 

• Endovascular aortic repair (EVAR): A repair of an abdominal aneurysm from inside the aorta
• Thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair (TEVAR): Like an EVAR but for an aneurysm in the chest
• Fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair (FEVAR): A technique we use for more complex aneurysms, particularly ones close to other arteries 

Lifesaving aortic treatments 

Life-threatening conditions like a ruptured aneurysm or aortic dissection often require open surgery. While it's more invasive, open surgery is often the only way to repair the aorta safely in these cases. 

If you have a severely blocked aorta, it can cut off the blood supply to your limbs, making the tissue die. For this, you may need revascularization surgery to salvage the limb.