Painless Aortic Dissection—Diagnostic Dilemma With Fatal Outcomes: What Do We Learn?

• Main Authors: Saeeda Fatima MD, Konika Sharma MD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2017-07-01
• Series: Journal of Investigative Medicine High Impact Case Reports
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2324709617721252

Aortic dissection is the most catastrophic clinical condition that involves the aorta. It has a high mortality as well as high rate of misdiagnosis due to frequent unusual presentation. Typically, it presents with acute chest, back, and tearing abdominal pain. However, it can present atypically with minimal or no pain, making diagnosis difficult. Physicians should always suspect acute aortic dissection in patients with certain clinical conditions like difficult-to-control hypertension, giant cell arteritis, bicuspid aortic valve, intracranial aneurysms, simple renal cysts, family history of aortic disease, and Marfan syndrome, especially when a patient presents with ischemic symptoms involving multiple organ without an obvious cause.