Simultaneous pulmonary artery and Stanford type B aortic dissections via the ductus arteriosus

Abstract

Pulmonary artery dissection is an exceedingly rare and highly lethal diagnosis that can result in arterial rupture; hence, it is most often identified postmortem. Moreover, pulmonary artery complications resulting from aortic dissection are uncommon occurrences that have seemingly only been reported in cases of Stanford type A aortic dissections. Due to the rarity of pulmonary artery dissections, there is no current established algorithm for treatment of these patients, unlike aortic dissections. We herein present a case of a 40-year-old male with history of uncontrolled hypertension who developed acute back and leg pain that was subsequently diagnosed with a Stanford type B aortic dissection that extended into the main pulmonary artery by way of the ductus arteriosus. Although the patient received appropriate care for his aortic dissection and hypertensive emergency, he eventually died due to development of extensive additional vascular insults: cerebrovascular accidents, compartment syndrome, and myocardial infarction. To our knowledge, this is the first case of combined pulmonary artery dissection and Stanford type B dissection in the literature, which unfortunately adds to the understanding that cases of pulmonary artery dissection tend to have a grim prognosis.

Keywords

• Pulmonary artery dissection
• Aortic dissection
• Ductus arteriosus
• Computed tomography