Acute aortic dissection - case description

Aortic dissection is a tearing in the inner wall of the aorta which spreads along the wall of the vessel. Acute aortic dissection is one of acute aortic syndromes, that is, sudden clinical conditions which are associated with abnormalities of the aortic wall and threaten patient’s life. It is estimated that the number of aortic dissections in Poland amounts to around 1000 cases per year. The symptoms of aortic dissection are so equivocal that they may suggest other diseases of various organs in the thorax and abdominal cavity. The described case of a 57-year-old man is an example of a complication of hypertension which, as a result of an isometrical physical effort, caused tearing of an inner membrane and forming of an aortic dissection of type I in the DeBakey classification. After performing medical imagining the patient with the diagnosis of aortic dissection, hematoma in the pseudoaneurysm cavity and renal infarction was submitted to emergency cardiac surgery. The diagnostics and selection of a place at cardiac surgery were carried out within an hour. However, the surgery did not take place, because the patient died due to a circulatory collapse. Acute aortic dissection is subject to high mortality rate during the first hour since the onset of symptoms. Therefore, rapid recognition is crucial for the further prognosis of the patient.