Ascending aorta

Looks like

The first few centimetres of the aorta, rising up from the heart inside the pericardium.

What it does

Carries every beat of blood out of the left ventricle towards the rest of the body.

Keeping it well

Widening here is silent and found on scans. Sudden tearing chest pain spreading to the back is an aortic dissection — an ambulance, now, because surgery within hours decides survival.

Related conditions

• Aortic aneurysm
• Aortic dissection
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Kawasaki disease
• Marfan syndrome & connective tissue disorders
• Metabolic syndrome
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Pre-eclampsia
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sepsis
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Takayasu arteritis
• Turner syndrome
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)