A retrospective analysis of patients with aortic dissection in the emergency unit

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate demographic, laboratory and clinical findings of patients with aortic dissection in the emergency unit. METHODS: Demographic and laboratory data of 20 aortic dissection patients diagnosed by CT angiography in the emergency unit between January 2012 and December 2017 were included in this retrospective, single-center study. The data were recorded in the forms created for the study. RESULTS: Thirteen of the 20 patients were male (65%) and the mean age of the study group was 63.5 +- 13.2 years with a 1.85 male to female ratio. Most common complaint on admission to the emergency unit was chest pain, with a rate of 80% (n=16). Three patients had only pain/loss of sense in the leg, and one patient had only abdominal pain. Electrocardiographic evaluation revealed T wave negativity in 50% of the patients (n=10). There were no significant difference in the vital and laboratory findings of patients with Stanford Type A or Type B aortic dissection. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Aortic dissection, which is uneasy to diagnose with clinical or laboratory findings in the emergency unit, has a high mortality and is easily missable disease and therefore should be evaluated carefully by emergency unit physicians. Further attention should be paid for patients with atypical clinical manifestations.

Keywords

• aorta
• aortıc dıssectıon
• emergency