Non-traumatic aortic dissection or rupture as cause of cardiac arrest: presentation and outcome

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency, presentation and outcome of non-traumatic aortic dissection/rupture as a cause of cardiac arrest. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a cardiac arrest registry in a tertiary care hospital emergency department. RESULTS: Over 11.5 years, aortic dissection/rupture was identified as the immediate cause of cardiac arrest in 46 (2,3%) out of 1990 patients with sudden cardiac arrest, primarily affecting the abdominal aorta in 25 and the thoracic aorta in 21 cases. The characteristics of the 46 patients were as follows: male gender (74%), median age 71 years (IQR 59-76), high co-morbidity (89%), previously known aortic aneurysm (33%), pulseless electric activity (70%) as initial cardiac rhythm. When performed, bedside abdominal sonography or echocardiography was almost always diagnostic. Patients with abdominal aortic dissection/rupture had abdominal (52%) and/or flank pain (32%). Patients with thoracic aortic dissection/rupture complained of chest pain (48%) or dyspnoea (19%). Return of spontaneous circulation occurred in 12 (26%) of 46 patients, emergency surgery was performed in eight of these patients, 2 (4%) survived to discharge in good neurological condition. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac arrest caused by aortic dissection/rupture is rare, and mortality remains very high, even when circulation can be restored initially. Common features such as previously known aortic aneurysm, old age, male gender and pulseless electrical activity as initial cardiac rhythm should increase suspicion of the condition.     

Dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysm in a young man: an uncommon presentation of abdominal pain

Aortic dissection results from an intimal tear that allows blood to penetrate the wall of the aorta. Patients, typically males over the age of fifty with a history of hypertension, usually present with sudden onset of severe chest pain. An unusual presentation of a dissecting aortic aneurysm as a cause of abdominal pain in a 32-year-old male is discussed. Although a relatively uncommon cause of abdominal pain, it is important to keep this entity on the list of differential diagnoses and adequately rule it out before discharge from the emergency department.     

Acute Type A Aortic Dissection in a 37-Week Pregnant Patient: An Unusual Clinical Presentation

Background

Aortic dissection in pregnancy is relatively rare, but it is often fatal. The estimated incidence of aortic dissection in the general population is 2.9 per 100,000 person-years. Early recognition and treatment of aortic dissections are crucial for survival. Whereas the majority of patients who present with aortic dissection are older than 50 years of age and have a history of hypertension, younger patients with connective tissue disease, bicuspid aortic valves, or a family history of aortic dissection are also at increased risk for developing this condition.

A successful treatment of cardiac tamponade due to an aortic dissection using open-chest massage

An 81-year-old woman became unconsciousness after complaining of a backache, and then, an ambulance was called. She was suspected to have an aortic dissection by the emergency medical technicians and was transferred to our department. On arrival, she was in shock. Emergency cardiac ultrasound disclosed good wall motion with cardiac tamponade but no complication of aortic regurgitation. Computed tomography of the trunk revealed a type A aortic dissection with cardiac tamponade. During performance of pericardial drainage, she lapsed into cardiopulmonary arrest. Immediately after sterilization of the patient's upper body with compression of the chest wall, we performed a thoracotomy and dissolved the cardiac tamponade by pericardiotomy and obtained her spontaneous circulation. Fortunately, blood discharge was ceased immediately after controlling her blood pressure aggressively. As she complicated pneumonitis, conservative therapy was performed. Her physical condition gradually improved, and she finally could feed herself and communicate. In cases of acute cardiac tamponade, simple pericardiocentesis often is not effective due to the presence of the clot, and a cardiac tamponade by a Stanford type A aortic dissection is highly possible to complicate cardiac arrest, so emergency physicians should be ready to provide immediate open cardiac massage to treat such patients.     

Prevalence of acute myocardial infarction and other serious diagnoses in patients presenting to an urban emergency department with chest pain

A retrospective cohort study and chart review were performed to estimate the absolute and relative prevalence of the serious diagnoses that might cause a patient to present to the Emergency Department (ED) with a chief complaint of chest pain. In this study, we queried a database of 347,229 complete visits to the San Francisco General Hospital Emergency Department between July 1, 1993 and June 30, 1998 for visits by patients > 35 years old with a chief complaint of chest pain and no history of trauma. Visits for chest pain that resulted in hospitalization were assigned to one of nine diagnostic groups according to final diagnoses as coded in the database. Manual chart review by trained abstractors using explicit criteria was done when group assignment based on coded diagnoses was unclear and in all diagnoses of pulmonary embolism and aortic dissection. Of 8711 visits (2.5% of all visits) with a chief complaint of non-traumatic chest pain, 3271 (37.6%) resulted in hospitalization. Of the 3078 (94.1% of those hospitalized) assigned a final diagnosis, 329 (10.7% of hospitalizations, 3.8% of all visits) had acute myocardial infarction, 693 (22.5%) had either unstable angina or stable coronary artery disease, and 345 (11.2%) had pulmonary causes (mainly bacterial pneumonia) deemed serious enough to require hospitalization. Pulmonary embolism and aortic dissection were diagnosed in only 12 (0.4%) and 8 (0.3%) patients, respectively. In 905 (29.4%) hospitalizations for chest pain, myocardial infarction was “ruled out” and no cardiac ischemia or other serious etiology for the chest pain was diagnosed. Among patients presenting with chest pain, those in older age groups had dramatically increased risk of acute myocardial infarction. Women presenting with chest pain had a lower risk of acute myocardial infarction than men. In conclusion, the prevalence of acute myocardial infarction in the undifferentiated ED patient with a chief complaint of chest pain is only about 4%. An equal number of patients will have a serious pulmonary cause as the etiology of their pain. Pulmonary embolism and aortic dissection are important but extremely rare causes of a chest pain presentation to the ED.     

降阶梯思维在非创伤性胸痛老年患者急诊分诊中的应用

目的：探讨降阶梯思维在非创伤性胸痛老年患者急诊分诊中的应用。方法选取重庆市某三级甲等医院急诊科就诊的非创伤性胸痛老年患者220例,对非创伤性胸痛老年患者基于降阶梯思维进行分诊。观察非创伤性胸痛老年患者急诊分诊准确率及患者满意度。结果非创伤性胸痛老年患者实施降阶梯思维后病情分级正确率为95.9%、分诊去向正确率为92.7%,患者满意度得分＞60分（高水平）占87.9%,得分45～60分（中水平）占11.4%,得分＜45分（低水平）占0.7%。结论非创伤性胸痛老年患者急诊分诊运用降阶梯思维,分诊准确率较高,确保患者及时救治,患者满意度较高。     

Seeing the invisible: painless aortic dissection in the emergency setting

Acute dissection of the aorta can be one of the most dramatic cardiovascular emergencies. Classically, aortic dissection presents as sudden, severe chest, back, or abdominal pain that is characterised as ripping or tearing in nature. However, a timely diagnosis can be elusive in the event of an atypical presentation. In this report, the authors present two patients with painless aortic dissection who were misdiagnosed during their initial evaluation in the emergency department.     

Non-traumatic chest pain in young adults: a medical audit.

Four hundred consecutive young patients who attended an accident and emergency department with non-traumatic chest pain as their primary complaint were reviewed. They represented 0.7% of total new attendances. Most were self-referrals, but ambulance transport was requested for over 25%. The majority of investigations (mainly chest radiography and electrocardiography) performed in this group of patients were normal; however, almost one in six investigations was judged to be abnormal. Although this group of patients is at low risk for serious cardiorespiratory disease, a small but significant number of underlying (mainly non-cardiac) disorders was found and 22.5% (90) required in-patient admission. In contrast, almost one-fifth of patients received no specific diagnosis, while almost 40% were deemed to require no follow-up.     

Bacterial meningitis secondary to a transethmoidal encephalocele presenting to the emergency department

Acute aortic dissection is an emergency that may not only cause significant morbidity but often results in death. A timely diagnosis can prove difficult in the event of an atypical presentation. Classically, aortic dissection presents as sudden, severe chest, back, or abdominal pain that is characterized as ripping or tearing in nature. This article reports on a case of a completely painless acute dissection and rupture in a middle-aged man who presented with syncope. The diagnosis was made by a combination of clinical suspicion, emergent bedside echocardiography, and computed tomography scan. This patient underwent immediate surgery, and ultimately had a successful outcome.     

Case Report: Effects of Sars-CoV-2 on Marfan syndrome with resulting acute aortic dissection

Marfan syndrome is one of the most common inherited connective tissue disorders that affects the heart, eyes, blood vessels, and bones. It occurs in approximately 1-2 per 10,000 individuals annually. Many patients with Marfan syndrome eventually develop aortic wall abnormalities, often resulting in aortic dilatation, which increases the risk of acute aortic dissection. Recent studies involving SARS-CoV-2 propose that individuals with connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome can have additional associated conditions that could impose a higher risk for morbidity and mortality from SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of this article is to discuss the interrelationship between Marfan Syndrome, Acute Type A Aortic Dissection in a patient with Sars-CoV-2 infection. Pertinent review of these conditions, diagnostic findings, treatment, and the patient's clinical course will be discussed. There is minimal research focused on the connection between this novel virus, Marfan Syndrome, and compounding risk for aortic dissection.     

主动脉夹层死亡16例临床特征分析

目的探讨主动脉夹层死亡患者的临床特点,以降低院内病死率。方法对2004年10月—2013年10月经影像学检查确诊为主动脉夹层且在住院期间死亡的16例临床资料进行回顾分析。结果 16例主动脉夹层临床表现多样,如剧烈的心前区疼痛、胸背部疼痛、心悸、憋气、大汗、晕厥等,其中以撕裂样胸背部疼痛多见。本组7例接受外科手术治疗,其中1例术中死亡,余6例死于术后并发症(感染、消化道大出血、多脏器功能衰竭等)。3例行降主动脉覆膜支架植入术,其中2例死于主动脉夹层破裂,1例死于术后消化道大出血。6例未接受外科治疗者均死于主动脉夹层破裂。结论早期识别主动脉夹层的高危患者,及时确诊、治疗,可显著减少术后并发症,降低院内病死率。     

Type A aortic dissection associated with tension pneumothorax

Both aortic dissection and tension pneumothorax are conditions that require urgent treatments. However, the diagnosis of these emergencies is sometimes challenging because of various symptoms and difficulty obtaining their medical history due to severe conditions. Here, we present the case of a patient with type A aortic dissection associated with tension pneumothorax. This is the second report of such a case worldwide. A 61-year-old man presented to the emergency department with sudden-onset chest and back pain. Upon presentation, his blood pressure was 97/58 mmHg, oxygen saturation on room air was 96%, and respiratory rate was 28 breaths/min. His physical examination revealed no jugular venous distention; however, breath sounds over the left lung were diminished. Bedside chest radiography revealed left tension pneumothorax with mediastinal shift to the right. Needle and chest tube thoracostomies were performed; however, the patient's vital signs did not improve and reexpansion pulmonary edema developed following tube thoracostomy. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed type A thrombosed aortic dissection with bullae in the upper lobe of the left lung. Therefore, the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit, conservatively treated, and discharged without any complications. In conclusion, type A aortic dissection may be associated with tension pneumothorax and should be considered if the patient's vital signs do not improve even after decompression of the tension pneumothorax.     

Ischemic stroke with left hemiparesis or shock should be evaluated by computed tomography for aortic dissection

An 82-year-old woman with consciousness disturbance, left hemeparesis, and dysarthria was discovered at home by her family and was transported to a hospital. On arrival, she remained in a sleepy and disorientated and shock state. She complained of nausea but no chest or back pain. She obtained stable circulation after infusion. Her chest roentgen results showed widening of the mediastinum and the existence of a separation of the intimal calcification from the outer aortic soft tissue border, thus suggesting a Stanford A–type aortic dissection. Her head computed tomography depicted no signs of cerebral infarction. Because she did not complain of any pain, the possibility of acute phase aortic dissection was rejected. A permissive hypertensive therapy was initiated. Next day, she suddenly died. We diagnosed that she had died of a Stanford A–type aortic dissection based on the following facts: (1) patients presenting with stroke due to a Stanford A–type aortic dissection tend to have left hemiparesis because of malcirculation of the innominate artery and (2) a patient presenting with stroke by aortic dissection may have hypotension, which is unusual in standard stoke cases. Ischemic stroke induced by aortic dissection is not common among the patients with aortic dissection. However, given the high morbidity and mortality after misdiagnosis of aortic dissection, patients with ischemic stroke with left hemiparesis or shock should be evaluated by enhanced truncal computed tomography.     

Spontaneous bilateral quadriceps tendon rupture

Spontaneous bilateral quadriceps tendon rupture is a rare finding in emergency departments. Thus, the pathophysiology is not well understood. Imaging for improved speed of diagnosis is rarely considered. We present a case of non-traumatic spontaneous bilateral quadriceps tendon rupture and examine current literature on the pathophysiology and imaging guidelines on the topic. The patient is a 49-year-old male that presented to the emergency department with bilateral thigh pain. He had been seen earlier with similar pain, but now presents with increased difficulty ambulating. The patient was found to have spontaneous rupture of bilateral quadriceps tendon. He was treated surgically and has been following with Orthopedic Surgery. Imaging in the emergency department included an ultrasound that showed tendon rupture. Spontaneous bilateral quadriceps tendon rupture is an uncommon finding in medicine and the emergency department. MRI remains the gold standard. However, clinical exam and ultrasound should be utilized for diagnosis of tendon rupture to hasten treatment.     

基于HEART评分急性非创伤性胸痛患者分诊工具的构建

目的 通过科学的方法,构建急性非创伤性胸痛患者分诊工具,为急诊临床实践提供客观可靠的参考依据。方法 以HEART评分为理论基础,通过文献研究、分析甘肃省某三级甲等医院急性非创伤性胸痛患者回顾性资料,采用Delphi法对22名从事急诊护理管理、急危重症、心内科临床或护理工作的专家进行2轮函询,并确定指标权重。结果 2轮函询专家有效回收率均为100%,专家权威系数分别是0.931、0.832,肯德尔和谐系数分别是0.223、0.305（P<0.001）。最终形成的急性非创伤性胸痛患者分诊工具包括一级指标10项、二级指标36项。结论 急性非创伤性胸痛患者分诊工具构成合理,研究方法适用,研究结果可信度高,为急诊胸痛分诊提高效率、优化流程提供了客观依据。     

High-sensitivity troponin assays in the evaluation of patients with acute chest pain in the emergency department

Evaluating patients with acute chest pain presenting to the emergency department remains an ongoing challenge. The spectrum of etiologies in acute chest pain ranges from minor disease entities to life-threatening diseases, such as pulmonary embolism, acute aortic dissection or acute myocardial infarction (MI). The diagnosis of acute MI is usually made integrating the triad of patient history and clinical presentation, readings of 12-lead ECG and measurement of cardiac troponins (cTn). Introduction of high-sensitivity cTn assays substantially increases sensitivity to identify patients with acute MI even at the time of presentation to the emergency department at the cost of specificity. However, the proportion of patients presenting with cTn positive, non-vascular cardiac chest pain triples with the implementation of new sensitive cTn assays increasing the difficulty for the emergency physician to identify those patients who are at need for invasive diagnostics. The main objectives of this mini-review are 1) to discuss elements of disposition decision made by the emergency physician for the evaluation of chest pain patients, 2) to summarize recent advances in assay technology and relate these findings into the clinical context, and 3) to discuss possible consequences for the clinical work and suggest an algorithm for the clinical evaluation of chest pain patients in the emergency department.     

Painless aortic dissection with bilateral carotid involvement presenting with vertigo as the chief complaint

A 63 year‐old woman was admitted to the emergency department with vertigo, nausea, and vomiting. On arrival ,she was fully oriented and cooperative. She denied any pain in her chest, neck, back, or abdomen. A bruit was heard on both sides of her neck. Cranial computed tomography (CT) revealed no abnormality, while thoracic CT disclosed dissection in the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and bilateral common carotid arteries. After several hours, the patient underwent vascular surgery. She had an uneventful course and was discharged without any sequelae after 10 days.     

Acute aortic dissection with painless paraplegia: report of 2 cases

Acute aortic dissection is often a life-threatening event that usually presents as a sudden, severe, exquisitely painful, ripping sensation in the chest or back. There are a few reports of atypical findings or no pain in the literature. We report 2 patients with painless acute aortic dissection who presented to the emergency department (ED) with sudden onset paraplegia.     

Painless dissection of the thoracic aorta

A 64-year-old man presented to an emergency department with a two-week history of intermittent, bilateral lower extremity paralysis without associated chest, abdominal, or back pain. He subsequently deteriorated and died as a result of a thoracic aortic dissection. This unusual case is reported, and the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of aortic dissection are discussed.