Furthermore, as the macrophage Sdc-1 expression was induced in response to an aneurysm formation in experimental models counterbalancing the inflammatory processes ongoing during thoracic AA formation [24,36], we assessed whether the increased Sdc-1 expression could be detected also in patients with an established ascending AA as well as its potential association with increased macrophage infiltration and inflammation. Here, SDC1 is linked to aneurysm.