Aortic Dissection - Causes, Types And Symptoms Of Aortic Dissection, Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Causes, types and symptoms of aortic dissection

Content:

• Causes Leading to Aortic Dissection
• Types of aortic dissection
• Symptoms of aortic dissection
• Diagnosis of aortic dissection
• Treatment of aortic dissection

Definition of disease

Aortic dissection is a great danger to human life, death occurs in most patients as a result of massive internal bleeding. Less commonly, strokes occur or acute heart failure develops as a complication of the process. Therefore, in the event of the first signs of aortic dissection, patients are immediately referred to the hospital.

Causes Leading to Aortic Dissection

High blood pressure and atherosclerosis contribute to the dissection of the aortic walls. Pathological changes in the connective tissue in diseases such as syphilis in the tertiary stage, congenital heart defects are often one of the prerequisites for the development of the disease. Risk factors include smoking and late pregnancy. The hereditary factor plays an important role.

Types of aortic dissection

The most common aortic dissection is proximal. As a rule, the process develops in the ascending aorta and can go downstream of the blood vessel. Less commonly, a distal dissection involving the descending section is diagnosed, sometimes with a continuation to the abdominal aorta.

The acute period of the disease can last up to 2 weeks and if the patient goes through this phase, then the process, as a rule, becomes chronic.

Symptoms of aortic dissection

The elderly and older people most often suffer from this disease, although there are cases of the disease among young people, more often associated with heredity or acquired pathological factors.

Aortic dissection can occur both acutely and protracted. The acute form is characterized by a sudden rapid onset and duration up to 2 weeks. In the absence of correct and timely started treatment, more than half of the patients die.

A common symptom for all types of aortic dissection is severe pain, reminiscent of myocardial infarction. Due to impaired organ circulation, strokes may develop, patients have severe shortness of breath, weakness increases, fainting may occur, internal organs and systems suffer.

The proximal form is characterized by squeezing or stabbing pains in the chest, retrosternal space, often given to the back. The most intense manifestation of pain is noted at the beginning of the process. With the further development of aortic dissection, ischemic disorders are observed in the upper extremities, brain and spinal cord.

In the distal form, pain occurs in the epigastric region, back and radiates to the neck. Further spread of the process causes ischemic lesions of the abdominal organs, kidneys, and lower extremities.

The patient's condition in the acute period is always very difficult, critical. The state of shock is accompanied by an increase in blood pressure to maximum numbers and an increase in heart rate. Death is inevitable in the absence of qualified assistance as a result of the development of acute heart failure or the onset of severe internal bleeding.

If the patient has survived this stage of the disease, then the process becomes chronic and can last for a long time.

The chronic course of the disease is often asymptomatic or the clinical picture resembles an aortic aneurysm. But such patients should always remember that they are not immune from a sudden acute onset of aortic dissection or rupture.

Diagnosis of aortic dissection

To correctly recognize the diagnosis and differentiate with diseases of the cardiovascular system, a thorough history taking in combination with laboratory data is required. A chest x-ray is mandatory to determine structures within the body. The shape, movement and size of the heart are examined using an echocardiogram. Currently, computed tomography and MRI are widely used. Pictures of blood vessels are taken using aortography. All these methods allow you to establish the correct diagnosis with maximum accuracy.

Treatment of aortic dissection

Often, aortic dissection is treated in an intensive care unit, where the patient is under constant supervision. The method of treatment is chosen depending on the type of disease. When blocking blood vessels, a surgical method is most often used, with the second option, they do without surgery. More than half of patients live more than 10 years after treatment.

With conservative treatment, the emphasis is on lowering blood pressure to reduce the load on the aorta. In the future, patients are recommended to undergo a medical examination every six months to a year to exclude an exacerbation of the disease.

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".