Aortic Dissection Repair Surgery

What are the Causes?

• High blood pressure
• Injury from an accident
• Structural heart problems
• Heavy smoking
• Genetic conditions that are passed down in families

What are the Signs and Symptoms?

Even though it's difficult to distinguish between heart attack and aortic tear’s symptoms accurately, a few noticeable symptoms are mentioned below. It is recommended to go to the cardiac specialist as soon as possible.

• Profuse sweating
• Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
• Persistent breathlessness
• Feeling of fainting
• Trouble speaking
• Pulse in one arm is comparatively weaker to other
• Dizziness or disorientation

How the Diagnosis is Made?

A test called an electrocardiogram (ECG) scans the electrical activity of the patient's heart. Sometimes an aortic dissection can be mistaken for a heart attack on this test, and sometimes both conditions may coexist. X-ray, CT Scan, MRI and transesophageal echocardiogram are the main tests which are used to diagnose aortic dissection.

• Contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) Scan
  A CT (CECT) scan is helpful in detecting cardiac abnormalities by enhancing the contrast between surrounding structures and the suspected lesion. In some cases, a lesion will be hypovascular compared to the normal tissue; in others, a lesion will be hypervascular to the surrounding tissue. A certain phase of enhancement has to be studied for the detection of the tear or lesion.
• Chest X-ray
  Your doctor may recommend you to undergo a chest x-ray to for reasons like assessing injuries resulting from an accident and monitoring the progression of a disease. If you have been feeling chest pain lately, the first step should be visiting a cardiac specialist and then getting an x-ray done.
• MRI Scan with Angiography
  MR angiography (MRA) utilises a strong magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to scan blood vessels. It is particularly useful in detecting cardiac issues which happen as a result of plaque deposition. This diagnostic method does not use ionising radiation, although injection of a contrast material called gadolinium may be required.
• Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)
  Unlike a standard echocardiogram, the echo transducer that generates the sound waves for TEE, attached to a thin tube, is passed through the patient's mouth, down his or her throat and into theoesophagus.

How is the Surgery Performed?

The solution to aortic dissection repair is open heart surgery.

• The surgeon puts you under general anaesthesia
• Once you are unconscious, an incision is made on the patient’s chest
• Ribs and other organs are carefully moved aside
• Medication is supplied to lower your blood pressure
• Aorta is accessed and repaired
• The clamps which were put to stop the blood from flowing into heart are removed
• Small bleeding nerve branches are repaired
• Once the repair is done, the blood thinning medicine is removed and the chest incision is closed

Post Surgery Risks and Complications

• Extreme stress
• complications that include
• Death
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Pneumonia
• Kidney failure
• Wound pain
• Urinary tract infection
• Damage to the organs due to insufficient blood supply during surgery