We have recently seen two patients with cystic medial necrosis of the aorta. The first patient died of a dissecting aneurysm of the thoracic aorta. At autopsy, classical Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was discovered. The second patient died of a rupture of the ascending aorta. At autopsy, chronic thyroiditis was seen with multiple large germinal center and diffuse fibrosis. Neither patient was clinically suspected of thyroid dysfunction although the second patient had had a partial thyroidectomy in the remote past