Aortitis is a general term denoting inflammation of the aortic wall. Various 
infectious and non-infectious diseases can be complicated by aortitis; in 
addition, isolated idiopathic aortitis has also been described. In a 12-year 
nationwide Danish population-based study, the prevalence of aortitis among 1,210 
resected thoracic aorta samples was 6.1%, with nearly three-quarters of cases 
being idiopathic. Identified risk factors for aortitis included advanced age, a 
history of connective tissue disease, diabetes mellitus, and heart valve 
pathology. As in virtually all pathological studies, this study has a bias 
toward reporting the most severe cases of aortitis requiring surgical repair.