A 71-year-old woman, undergoing coronary angiography during preoperative evaluation for a major noncardiac surgery, was fortuitously detected as having penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer of the ascending aorta 5 years after coronary artery bypass surgery. While acute aortic dissections have been described after coronary bypass grafting, penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer of the ascending aorta as a delayed complication of bypass surgery has never been reported. The patient was treated conservatively and closely observed. A brief review of liter ature is also presented.
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