scholarly journals Penetrating Atheromatous Ulcer as a Precursor of Aortic Dissection: A Case Report

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Shah ◽  
Erik Polan

Abstract Background: Acute aortic syndromes include a range of life-threatening conditions with the most familiar entity being aortic dissection. However, variants of aortic dissection also include intimal tear without hematoma, aortic intramural hematoma, and lastly penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU), which will be the focus of this case report. Most PAUs are located in the descending thoracic aorta (85-95%), but they can also occur in the ascending aorta or arch as in the current case.Case Presentation: We report a case of a 77 year old male who presented with chief complaint of intermittent right-handed weakness associated with no numbness or mental status changes. Patient was admitted for stroke workup with unrevealing findings on CT (computed tomography) for acute abnormalities or any hemodynamically significant stenosis on carotid ultrasound. CT angiogram of head/neck revealed a penetrating aortic ulcer of the lateral aspect of the mid to distal ascending aorta. Patient was then transferred for further evaluation to a center of higher level care for further management.Conclusions: Patient was evaluated for surgical repair of penetrating ascending aortic ulcer. Patient underwent serial imaging throughout hospital course which showed grossly similar findings to prior examination and thus no surgical intervention was needed at that time. Patient was recommended to have follow up CT scan in one month to monitor progression of aortic ulcer. Penetrating aortic ulcers are rarely located in the ascending aorta and are considered precursors of life-threatening aortic dissections.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Shah ◽  
Erik Polan

Abstract Background: Acute aortic syndromes include a range of life-threatening conditions with the most familiar entity being aortic dissection. However, variants of aortic dissection also include intimal tear without hematoma, aortic intramural hematoma, and lastly penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU), which will be the focus of this case report. Most PAUs are located in the descending thoracic aorta (85-95%), but they can also occur in the ascending aorta or arch as in the current case. Case Presentation: We report a case of a 77 year old male who presented with chief complaint of intermittent right-handed weakness associated with no numbness or mental status changes. Patient was admitted for stroke workup with unrevealing findings on CT (computed tomography) for acute abnormalities or any hemodynamically significant stenosis on carotid ultrasound. CT angiogram of head/neck revealed a penetrating aortic ulcer of the lateral aspect of the mid to distal ascending aorta. Patient was then transferred for further evaluation to a center of higher level care for further management. Conclusions: Patient was evaluated for surgical repair of penetrating ascending aortic ulcer. Patient underwent serial imaging throughout hospital course which showed grossly similar findings to prior examination and thus no surgical intervention was needed at that time. Patient was recommended to have follow up CT scan in one month to monitor progression of aortic ulcer, however patient lost to follow-up thereafter. Penetrating aortic ulcers are rarely located in the ascending aorta and are considered precursors of life-threatening aortic dissections.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Manan Parikh ◽  
Abhinav Agrawal ◽  
Braghadheeswar Thyagarajan ◽  
Sayee Sundar Alagusundaramoorthy ◽  
James Martin

Aortic dissection is a life-threatening medical emergency often presenting with severe chest pain and acute hemodynamic compromise. The presentation of aortic dissection can sometimes be different thus leading to a challenge in prompt diagnosis and treatment as demonstrated by the following presentation and discussion. We present a case of a 71-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with complaints of left sided temporoparietal headache and was eventually diagnosed with a thoracic aortic dissection involving the ascending aorta and descending aorta, with an intramural hematoma in the descending aorta. This case illustrates the importance of keeping in mind aortic dissection as a differential diagnosis in patients with acute onset headaches in which any intracranial source of headache is not found.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud Lyon ◽  
Ziyad Gunga ◽  
Lars Niclauss ◽  
Valentina Rancati ◽  
Piergiorgio Tozzi

Background: The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic is reducing health care accessibility to non–life-threatening diseases, thus hiding their real incidence. Moreover, the incidence of potentially fatal conditions such as acute type A aortic dissection seems to have decreased since the pandemic began, whereas the number of cases of chronic ascending aortic dissections dramatically increased. We present two patients whose management has been affected by the exceptional sanitary situation we are dealing with.Case report: A 70-year-old man with chest pain and an aortic regurgitation murmur had his cardiac workup delayed (4 months) because of sanitary restrictions. He was then diagnosed with chronic type A aortic dissection and underwent urgent replacement of ascending aorta and aortic root. The delay in surgical treatment made the intervention technically challenging because the ascending aorta grew up to 80 mm inducing strong adhesions and chronic inflammation. The second case report concerns a 68-year-old woman with right lower-limb pain who was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis. However, a CT scan to exclude a pulmonary embolism could not be realized until 5 months later because of sanitary restrictions. When she eventually got the CT scan, it fortuitously showed a chronic dissection of the ascending aorta. She underwent urgent surgery, and the intervention was challenging because of adhesions and severe inflammation.Conclusion: Delayed treatment due to sanitary restrictions related to COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the management of potentially life-threatening conditions including type A aortic dissection. We should remain careful to avoid COVID-19 also hitting patients who are not infected with the virus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 2050313X2110377
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Nakamura ◽  
Kiyoshi Doi ◽  
Syojiro Yamaguchi ◽  
Etsuji Umeda ◽  
Osamu Sakai ◽  
...  

We reported a rare case of spontaneous frank rupture of a small (4 mm) penetrating aortic ulcer in the ascending aorta resulted in catastrophic bleeding. The ulcer only created a pinhole wound in the adventitia without saccular aneurysms, intramural hematomas, or aortic dissections. Notably, the wound could be directly closed because the aortic wall was intact only 5 mm away from the bleeding site. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on the 11th postoperative day. After 8 months, follow-up computed tomography showed no abnormality of the aortic wall at the repair site.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alana Costa Borges ◽  
Marcelo de Sousa Cury ◽  
Gilberto F. de Carvalho ◽  
Stella Maria Torres Furlani

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 54-55
Author(s):  
Prathap Kumar. J.

An aortic aneurysm is an abnormal dilation of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times its normal size. They usually cause no symptoms except when ruptured. Occasionally, there may be symptoms like abdominal, back, or leg pain. They are most commonly located in the abdominal aorta, but can also be located in the thoracic aorta, rarely in arch of aorta. Abdominal aortic aneurysm is more common in men, a disease that is often asymptomatic and has up to a 90% risk of mortality if the aneurysm ruptures. It can be easily diagnosed by an ultrasound screening, and if the aneurysm is > 5.5 cm, it can be surgically repaired to prevent a life-threatening rupture. Aneurysm of the ascending aorta is rare but can be easily diagnosed by echocardiogram.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Xiao-yan Chen ◽  
Fan-liang Kong ◽  
Tong-guo Wu

Type A aortic dissection is a catastrophic clinical entity involving the ascending aorta. In this case report, a patient was admitted to the emergency room with a presentation resembling acute myocardial infarction (AMI) that led to the inappropriate administration of anticoagulant agents or platelet. This is a case report of a 69-year-old male patient with early misdiagnosis and analysis of type A aortic dissection with discussion on the causes of misdiagnosis in light of the literature.


Vascular ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 454-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew MTL Choong ◽  
Saroj Das ◽  
Nicholas Mulrenan ◽  
Mohamad Hamady ◽  
Protip Bose

Purpose To present a single case that clearly demonstrates the progression through the whole spectrum of an acute aortic syndrome, from a solitary penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU) through to multiple PAUs with intra-mural haematoma (IMH) progression. The index images show that despite the clinical presentation of an acute type B aortic dissection, a classical dissection flap is never demonstrated in this patient and thus highlights the need for early input from vascular surgery for all potential acute aortic syndromes. Case report We present the case of a 71-year-old lady who attended the emergency department with hypertension and inter-scapular chest pain. Upon investigation with computed tomography aortography (CTA), she was found to have a solitary PAU only with minimal IMH. She did not demonstrate any classical radiological signs of acute type B aortic dissection. She was admitted under a medical team and her chest pain abated with no treatment. The treating medical team adjusted her anti-hypertensive medication and discharged her home with an urgent vascular surgical outpatient appointment for further follow-up and surveillance. We acknowledge that a preferred approach would have been, at least admission and close blood pressure monitoring, with a repeat CTA the next day. Two days later, she represented with further chest pain and on repeat CTA was found to have multiple PAUs and progression of the small IMH. She was then admitted under vascular surgery and subsequently transferred to the parent tertiary referral vascular surgical unit. Despite aggressive anti-hypertensive management, she had persistent intractable chest pain and was treated with a single thoracic stent graft. Completion angiography demonstrated total resolution of the PAUs. Conclusion This case along with index images demonstrates the whole spectrum of the acute aortic syndrome from a solitary PAU to multiple PAUs with IMH extension. Despite an eventual clinical picture of an acute type B aortic dissection, there was a notable absence of a classical dissection flap on any imaging. We recommend that all aortic pathologies should be at least discussed with and preferably managed by vascular surgeons. The absence of a classical dissection flap on imaging is not a contra-indication to emergent treatment with thoracic stent grafting and in select patients is actually the only therapy that will treat this pathology.


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