Circumferential Fibrosis of the Ascending Aorta After COVID Infection.

After recovering from severe COVID-19 infection, 2 women presented with chest pain. Computed tomographic angiography suggested acute ascending aortic dissection. At operation in both patients, the ascending aorta was encased in dense fibrous tissue, within which were focal collections of mononuclear cells, including many plasma cells. There was no entry tear or dissection. Such findings we have not encountered previously, and PubMed search of "periaortic fibrosis and COVID-19" yielded no similar cases or possible relation.