Aortic dissection history and symptoms
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Aortic dissection Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Special Scenarios |
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Case Studies |
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
Overview
67% of patients with aortic dissection present with acute symptoms (<2 weeks), and 33% with chronic symptoms (>= 2 weeks). About 96% of individuals present with severe pain that had a sudden onset.
History
Symptoms
- Pain:
- Sudden onset, sharp, severe chest pain.
- Tearing or stabbing in nature. A pleuritic pain suggests acute pericarditis associated with hemorrahge into the pericardial sac.
- Location:
- Depends on the site of dissection - Anterior chest pain is associated with dissections of the ascending aorta, whereas back pain (interscapular) indicates dissection of the descending aorta.
- In 17% patients, the pain migrates as dissection extends down the aorta.
- Less common symptoms include -
- Aortic root dilatation may lead to symptoms of CHF
- Syncope: 50% of the times, the etiology of syncope is hemorrhage into the pericardial sac causing pericardial tamponade
- Paraplegia, paralysis: from involvement of one of the cerebral arteries
- cardiac arrest and death.
- Abdominal pain: from mesentric ischemia
- Oliguria/ Anuria: Involvement of renal arteries causing pre-renal failure.[1] [2] [3] [4]
- Location:
Blood pressure changes
While many patients with an aortic dissection have a history of hypertension, the blood pressure is quite variable at presentation with acute aortic dissection, and tends to be higher in individuals with a distal dissection. In individuals with a proximal aortic dissection, 36% present with hypertension, while 25% present with hypotension. In those that present with distal aortic dissections, 70% present with hypertension while 4% present with hypotension.
Severe hypotension at presentation is a grave prognostic indicator. It is usually associated with pericardial tamponade, severe aortic insufficiency, or rupture of the aorta. Accurate measurement of the blood pressure is important. Pseudohypotension (falsely low blood pressure measurement) may occur due to involvement of the brachiocephalic artery (supplying the right arm) or the left subclavian artery (supplying the left arm).
Aortic insufficiency
Aortic insufficiency (AI) occurs in 1/2 to 2/3 of ascending aortic dissections, and the murmur of aortic insufficiency is audible in about 32% of proximal dissections. The intensity (loudness) of the murmur is dependent on the blood pressure and may be inaudible in the event of hypotension.
There are multiple etiologies for AI in the setting of ascending aortic dissection. The dissection may dilate the annulus of the aortic valve, so that the leaflets of the valve cannot coapt. Another mechanism is that the dissection may extend into the aortic root and detach the aortic valve leaflets. The third mechanism is that if there was an extensive intimal tear, the intimal flap may prolapse into the LV outflow tract, causing intimal intussusception into the aortic valve preventing proper valve closure.
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction (heart attack) occurs in 1-2% of aortic dissections. The etiology of the infarction is involvement of the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply the heart) in the dissection. The right coronary artery is involved more commonly than the left coronary artery. If the myocardial infarction is treated with thrombolytic therapy, the mortality increases to over 70%, mostly due to hemorrhage into the pericardial sac causing pericardial tamponade.
Because aortic dissection may present to the emergency room physician similar to a myocardial infarction, the physician must be careful to make the proper diagnosis prior to initiating treatment for myocardial infarction, since the treatment regimen for myocardial infarction can be lethal to an individual presenting with aortic dissection.
Pleural effusion
A pleural effusion (fluid collection in the space between the lungs and the chest wall or diaphragm) can be due to either blood from a transient rupture of the aorta or fluid due to an inflammatory reaction around the aorta. If a pleural effusion were to develop due to an aortic dissection, it is more commonly in the left hemithorax rather than the right hemithorax.
- 74% of patients who survive the initial tear typically present with the sudden onset of severe tearing pain. 92% of patients with anterior chest pain as their major source of pain have either type I or type II dissections, and only 8% have type III. Neck, throat, jaw, and unilateral face pain are also seen more commonly in those with type I or type II dissection. 52% of patients with type III dissection have the majority of their pain in the back, and 67% of these patients have some degree of back pain.
- Up to 15 – 55 % of patients can have painless dissection. Dissection should therefore be included in the differential in patients with unexplained syncope, stroke or congestive heart failure (CHF).
- 4% of patients present with out of hospital cardiac arrest.
- Unusual symptoms include:
- Hoarseness
- Hemoptysis
- Claudication
- Superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome
- Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleed
- Upper airway obstruction.
ACC/ AHA Guidelines - Recommendations for History and Physical Examination for Thoracic aortic disease (DO NOT EDIT)
| Class I |
| 1. For patients presenting with a history of acute cardiac and noncardiac symptoms associated with a significant likelihood of thoracic aortic disease, the clinician should perform a focused physical examination, including a careful and complete search for arterial perfusion differentials in both upper and lower extremities, evidence of visceral ischemia, focal neurological deficits, a murmur of aortic regurgitation, bruits, and findings compatible with possible cardiac tamponade (Level of Evidence: C) |
References
- ↑ Saner, H.E., et al., Aortic dissection presenting as Pericarditis. Chest, 1987. 91(1): p. 71-4. PMID 3792088
- ↑ Rosman, H.S., et al., Quality of history taking in patients with aortic dissection. Chest, 1998. 114(3): p. 793-5. PMID 9743168
- ↑ Hagan, P.G., et al., The International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD): new insights into an old disease. JAMA, 2000. 283(7): p. 897-903. PMID 10685714
- ↑ von Kodolitsch, Y., A.G. Schwartz, and C.A. Nienaber, Clinical prediction of acute aortic dissection. Arch Intern Med, 2000. 160(19): p. 2977-82. PMID 11041906