Occlusion of a coronary artery by an acute type A aortic dissection presents a life-threatening emergency that is rarely seen and easy to misdiagnose. We present the case of a 75-year-old male who experienced sudden onset of severe left-sided chest pain due to an acute type A aortic dissection that obstructed the right coronary artery. Following an initial misdiagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, imaging revealed the presence of an aortic dissection. An emergency modified Bentall procedure was performed, in which the damaged aorta and aortic valve were replaced.
Aortic dissection is intimal tear in aorta and collection of blood in between the layers of aortic wall. The incidence of acute type A aortic dissection is between 2.1 and 16.3 per 100,000 persons [1]. Aortic dissection is an infrequent but potentially life threatening complication of pregnancy with most of the cases occurring in third trimester and post-partum period [2]. The most important predisposing factors to aortic dissection are Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos, Turner and Loeys-Dietz syndromes [3]. However, the non sporadic cases can also occur in pregnancy [4].
Total arch replacement and frozen elephant trunk for type A aortic dissection after Bentall procedure in Marfan syndrome