"In the last analysis, apart from wiring the aneurysm and carrying out the general regime of rest and peace, but little can be done. The patient, however, should not be discouraged, as it is surprising how long he may live in comparative comfort, and the possibility of sudden exit from rupture should never be mentioned."
This summary of the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms in a fine and popular textbook of internal medicine1 10 years ago was an accurate assessment of the help that the physician could offer to the patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and although it seems modest enough, it actually grossly overestimated the value of wiring and was entirely too optimistic about the patient's chances of survival. It must be put down as one of the impressive achievements of medical progress during the past decade that this quotation has become obsolete and that the effective