Acute aortic dissection due to giant cell arteritis. Report of two autopsy cases.

Two autopsy cases of giant cell arteritis with aortic dissection are reported. One patient was an 87-year-old man, and the other was an 80-year-old woman. In both cases the patient died suddenly, and fatal pericardial bleeding due to the aortic dissection was revealed at autopsy. Histologically, marked inflammation with giant cells was observed in the wall of the aorta and in other arteries including the cranial arteries. The authors therefore consider that giant cell arteritis was one of the preceding lesions that culminated in aortic dissection.