Article; connective tissue disorder

[Guest guest]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1556/4327923.html

A son is lost; another is saved

.... When doctors opened up Terry's chest on Jan. 6, they found he didn't

have an aneurysm -- it just looked like one on the imaging tests. He had the

same problem as his brother -- a disintegrating aorta. But in Terry's case

the two inside layers of his aorta had torn away, and the giant artery was

held together by an outer layer of tissue the thickness of plastic wrap,

Eales said. Terry was one sudden movement away from death, Eales said...

.... Blaine and Patty will be tested to see whether they carry a gene that

leads to a connective tissue disorder, something that is often seen in

people with Marfan syndrome. Their sons don't have that genetic condition,

but they had some of its traits, including scoliosis, concave chests and

loose joints...