Thoracic aortic aneurysm is often an asymptomatic but potentially lethal disease if its most catastrophic complication - aortic dissection - occurs. Thoracic aortic dissection is associated with a high mortality rate despite ongoing improvement in its management. We report a fatal outcome of thoracic aortic aneurysm in a male patient with bicuspid aortic valve. The patient was qualified for ele...

T he list of long-term complications after surgical intervention for acute type A aortic dissection includes recurrent dissection, aneurysm formation, and aortic valve regurgitation. Ten years after the initial operation for acute type A dissection, the reoperation rate for these kinds of long-term complications is 13% to 30% in the literature.1 The diseased aortic root in these patients is com...

The coexistence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may impose an additional risk on aortic dissection due to the possible increase in aortic transmural pressure. Thus, effective treatment for OSA, such as noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV), is thought to decrease the risk in patients with aortic dissection. We experienced one case of an OSA patient with aortic dissection who was suc...

Progressive dilatation of the false lumen in the arch and descending aorta has been encountered in one-third of survivors as a late sequelae following repair of ascending aortic dissection. Conventional treatment for the same requiring cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest is associated with high morbidity and mortality especially in the elderly cohort of patients. Here...

Aortic dissection is the most devastating complication of thoracic aortic disease. In the more than 250 years since thoracic aortic dissection was first described, much has been learned about diseases of the thoracic aorta. In this review, we describe normal thoracic aortic size; risk factors for dissection, including genetic and inflammatory conditions; the underpinnings of genetic diseases as...

In patients with acute type A aortic dissection, intimal detachment associated with circumferential dissection of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) is a rare but lethal complication. We report a Marfan patient with dissection and intimal detachment of the LMCA that was caused by acute aortic dissection involving the left aortic sinus and that was reconstructed using a short reversed saphenou...

Girls and women with Turner syndrome are at risk for catastrophic aortic dissection and rupture, but the clinical profile for those at risk is not well described. In addition to reporting two new cases, we performed an electronic search to identify all reported cases of aortic dissection associated with Turner syndrome. Particular attention was paid to the reporting of systemic hypertension (HT...

PURPOSE We developed the next stage of our computer assisted diagnosis (CAD) system to aid radiologists in evaluating CT images for aortic disease by removing innocuous images and highlighting signs of aortic disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS Segmented data of patient's contrast-enhanced CT scan was analyzed for aortic dissection and penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU). Aortic dissection was detected...

OBJECTIVE The is to report immunohistochemical observations of aortic α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) expressions in patients with aortic aneurysm, acute aortic dissection, and coronary artery disease and to discuss phenotypic switching of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) of these lesions. METHODS Forty-nine consecutive patients scheduled for surgical treatment for acute type A aortic dissection (20 pa...

BACKGROUND Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) has emerged as the defacto imaging test to rule out acute aortic dissection; however, it is not without flaws. We report a case of a false-positive CTA with respect to Stanford Type A aortic dissection. CASE A 52 year-old male presented with sudden onset shortness of breath. He denied chest pain. Due to severe hypertension and an Emergency Dep...