He recalls a mother in her late 20s who came to him because she had an inoperable defect in her aorta that would rupture at some undeterminable time in the future, killing her instantly.

他提起这样一位母亲：将近30岁的她来求助，因为在她的一条主动脉上存在着某种缺陷（inoperable defect 。 译者很迷茫），所以主动脉会在将来的某个不确定的时间爆裂，这会使得她当场死亡。

youdao

Better to have a new revelation about, say, health-care mandates that renders the previous one instantly inoperable than spend time apologizing for the old ways.

NEWYORKER: I, Nephi