Aortic dissection and rupture in an 11-year-old child: A case report

Abstract

We present the case of an 11-year-old boy who developed sudden severe chest pain. When he was referred to the emergency department with this chest pain and palpitation, he could not even stand up. The sudden onset of chest pain was first complained about while he was swimming at school about 30 min previously. His arterial blood pressure was 150/90 mm Hg, heart rate was 120/min, and the chest pain was combined with shortness of breath and diaphoresis. During the evaluation in the emergency room, he complained of much severer chest pain and newly developed abdominal pain. We suspected aortic dissection and took computed tomography (CT) images of his chest and abdomen. The diagnosis of aortic dissection type B was established with the help of CT imaging. The patient went to surgery immediately with blood pressure control. He was lost before the operation because of aortic rupture. We report one rare case of aortic dissection type B with rupture in an eleven-year-old child in Korea.

Keywords: Aortic dissection; Aortic rupture; Chest pain; Children.

Figure 1

The chest X-ray was normal on admission.

Figure 2

Multidetector computed tomography image of type B aortic dissection. (A) Entry and reentry tears. (B) Image illustrates the extension of dissection through the left iliac artery.

Figure 3

The chest X-ray showed total haziness of left lung.