Aortic dissection: Two years clinical experience of patients diagnosed with aortic disection in an university emergency department | 2005, Volume 5, Issue 1

Ayça Açıkalaın¹, S. Satar¹, O. Akpınar², G. Kuvandık³, A. Sarı¹, M. Kanadaşı², H. Yalnız⁴

¹Çukurova Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Acil Tıp Anabilim Dalı, Adana
²Çukurova Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Kardiyolaji Anabilim Dalı, Adana
³Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Acil Tıp Anabilim Dalı, Hatay
⁴Çukurova Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Göğüs Kalp Damar Cerrahi Anabilim Dalı, Adana

Abstract

Introduction: Aortic dissection is a cardiovascular disease with high mortality requiring quick diagnosis and treatment. Not only accurate but also early diagnosis and treatment in the emergency department is important because of the poor prognosis. Because of nonspecific complaints of the patients on admission, the most important factor in diagnosing aortic dissection is to remind it as a differential diagnosis.
Material and Method: In this study, 22 patients diagnosed with aortic dissection in the emergency department during March 1, 2001 and March 31, 2003 were evaluated. Patients were divided into three groups by using the De Bakey classification.
Results: Twenty two patients (18 females, 4 females; mean age: 57.5±8.3 years) were included into the study. Ten of the patients had type one (45.5%), four of them had type 2 (18.2%), 8 of the patients had type 3 (36.4%) aortic dissection.Chest pain was the most complaint (70%) in patients with type 1 dissection. However, in all of the patients with type 3 dissection, the complaint was the abdominal pain. Seven of the 22 patients did not accept to undergo an operation. Two of the patients with type 3 dissection were treated as medically. Two patients died during the preoperative period, 1 patient died during the operation and two patients were died during the postoperative period. Four patients were discharged after a successful operation.
Conclusion: As a result, aortic dissection is still a high-mortality illness. These patients should not only be evaluated and diagnosed quickly but also treated as soon as possible.