This book reports the results of a large clinical and anatomopathologic study of aneurysms of the thoracic aorta, including the ascending, transverse and descending portions. The first and second chapters deal with etiology, pathogenesis and differential diagnosis. Special reference is made to the incidence of aneurysm in relation to age, sex, geographic region and type of work, and on the rôle of either physical or psychic trauma and constitutional (especially cardiac) malformations. This is followed by chapters on the value of certain objective signs in diagnosis, such as the presence of anisocoria, the Argyll Robertson pupil, exophthalmos, Horner syndrome, pallor, congestion of the face, the technic and significance of palpation, and the effects of aneurysms of the thoracic aorta on the radial pulse, the heart rhythm and the arterial and venous pressures. The detailed aspects of the book are illustrated by the presence of chapters on auscultation and x-ray examination