Type A aortic dissection: Why there is still a role for echocardiography when every second counts

Peter Luke; Karen Booth; Ali Kindawi; Christopher Eggett

doi:10.1177/2050313X20973086

Type A aortic dissection: Why there is still a role for echocardiography when every second counts

SAGE Open Med Case Rep. 2020 Dec 18:8:2050313X20973086. doi: 10.1177/2050313X20973086. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Peter Luke¹, Karen Booth², Ali Kindawi², Christopher Eggett³

Affiliations

¹ Echocardiography Department, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
² Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
³ School of Biomedical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.

Abstract

Aortic dissection is often regarded as a catastrophic aortic syndrome with high rates of mortality. The sensitivity and specificity of transthoracic echocardiography when diagnosing acute type A aortic dissection has been reported as high as 97% and 100%, respectively, in patients with optimal imaging quality when compared to computed tomography. In this article, we discuss the benefit of transthoracic echocardiography in a patient with type A aortic dissection extending from ascending aorta to iliac arteries.

Keywords: Critical care/emergency medicine; aortic dissection; aortic regurgitation; echocardiography; point-of-care ultrasound.

Publication types

Case Reports