This was the problem that killed my mother, just to begin on a cheerful, upbeat note. You should know what she was 83 years old, had a lot of vascular disease and the aneurysm was on the descending aortic arch. It was explained to us that this was a very difficult procedure to pull-off for a number of reasons: 1. the location required that besides stopping the heart and lungs, one must also stop the brain for the duration of the surgery. 2. At the time (1990) there were very few surgeons who had ever performed this surgery successfully--none where I live. The chance of my mother having a good outcome at her age with her vascular disease made us decide to do nothing. Ultimately, the aneurysm started leaking and within a year she was gone. I don't recall your age but if you are under eighty, I would start looking for the surgeon who has done this procedure a significant number of times. I think there is someone at the NIH. Good luck to you. Let us know how it goes. Susan