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Case Reports
. 2020 Dec 18:8:2050313X20973086.
doi: 10.1177/2050313X20973086. eCollection 2020.

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

Peter Luke  1 , Karen Booth  2 , Ali Kindawi  2 , Christopher Eggett  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

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

Peter Luke et al. SAGE Open Med Case Rep. .

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
CT scan (a) showing an unfolded aorta demonstrating the aortic dissection from the ascending aorta to the iliac arteries. Three-dimensional CT renderings of the aorta show the aortic dissection in different views around the aortic arch and down the descending aorta (b and c), thoracic aorta towards the iliac arteries. Note the small reduction in contrast uptake by the left kidney which is attached to the false lumen (red arrow).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
CT of the aorta cross sectional view of the aortic arch showing the aortic dissection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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