A surgical technique where the aorta is deliberately softened or weakened to treat certain cardiovascular conditions.
From Greek 'aorta' (main artery) plus 'malaxis' (softening or kneading). This rare surgical term developed as physicians experimented with various interventions on the aorta during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
This is one of medicine's most counterintuitive procedures—deliberately weakening the strongest vessel in your body—but it was sometimes used strategically to reduce dangerous blood pressure and flow in specific conditions.
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