Medication
Aortic dissection is a medical emergency and needs urgent treatment. The treatment for aortic dissection includes an operation to repair the wall of the aorta, as well as medicines to reduce blood pressure.
Procedures
Type B dissection can often be treated with medication, rather than surgery, if not complicated. You’ll receive drugs to relieve your pain. Morphine is often used in this case. You’ll also get at least one medication to lower your blood pressure, such as a beta-blocker.
Nutrition
The ultrasound waves are used to create an image of your heart and aorta. Type A dissection requires emergency surgery. Type B dissection can often be treated with medication, rather than surgery, if not complicated. You’ll receive drugs to relieve your pain.
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Spontaneous dissection of the abdominal aorta (not associated with trauma or with descending thoracic aortic dissection) is rare; it accounts for less than 2% of all aortic dissections.1However, the wide use of CT scanning in cases of nonspecific abdominal pain has begun to reveal this condition with increasing frequency.
What is the treatment for aortic dissection?
What are the treatment options for Type B dissection?
What is a heart dissection and how is it treated?
How common is abdominal aortic dissection without trauma?
What is a dissection of the aorta?
An aortic dissection is a serious condition in which the inner layer of the aorta tears. Blood then surges through the tear, causing the inner and middle layers of the aorta to separate (dissect).
What tests are done to check for aortic dissection?
Initial investigations to diagnose aortic dissection and rule out a heart attack may include: Blood tests. A heart tracing (electrocardiogram, or ECG). A chest X-ray. An ultrasound scan of your heart (echocardiogram, or echo). A computerised tomography (CT) scan or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
How rare is aortic dissection?
Aortic dissection is more common in men but is still very rare: only about 30 people per million will have one, in a year.
What is the best treatment for a damaged aorta?
Immediate treatment often involves surgery to repair the damaged aorta. However, medicines such as beta-blockers and nitroprusside may be used before surgery to reduce your heart rate and lower your blood pressure.
Can aortic dissection be replaced?
Surgery for type A aortic dissection may also include replacing the aortic valve of the heart at the same time if this is affected.
Can cocaine cause aortic dissection?
There is an increased risk of aortic dissection with regular cocaine or amfetamine use and with any extremely strenuous exercise such as weightlifting. A severe injury to the chest may also cause aortic dissection.
Can aortic dissection cause loss of consciousness?
Aortic dissection may also cause loss of consciousness or symptoms similar to a stroke. These may be, for example, loss of vision, or weakness of your legs, or weakness of one side of your body.
What medications can help with aortic dissection?
Some medications, such as beta blockers and nitroprusside (Nitropress), reduce heart rate and lower blood pressure, which can prevent the aortic dissection from worsening. They may be given to people with type A aortic dissection to stabilize blood pressure before surgery.
How to diagnose aortic dissection?
Tests to diagnose aortic dissection include: 1 Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). This test uses sound waves to create pictures of the heart in motion. A TEE is a special type of echocardiogram in which an ultrasound probe (transducer) is guided through your esophagus and placed close to your heart. This test gives your doctor a clearer picture of your heart and aorta than would a regular echocardiogram. 2 Computerized tomography (CT) scan of the chest. X-ray are used to produce cross-sectional images of the body. A CT of the chest can confirm a diagnosis of aortic dissection. 3 Magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA). An MRA uses a magnetic field and radio wave energy to create images of your blood vessels.
What are the symptoms of aortic dissection?
Doctors often suspect an aortic dissection if the following signs and symptoms are present: Sudden tearing or ripping chest pain. Widening of the aorta on chest X-ray. Blood pressure difference between right and left arms. Although these signs and symptoms suggest aortic dissection, more-sensitive imaging techniques are needed.
What is the purpose of a stent in the aorta?
Sometimes stents — small wire mesh tubes that act as a sort of scaffolding — may be placed in the aorta to repair complicated type B aortic dissections. After treatment, you may need to take blood pressure lowering medication for life.
Can you have a type A aortic dissection without surgery?
The same medications that are used to treat type A aortic dissection may be used without surgery to treat type B aortic dissections. Surgery. The procedure is similar to that used to correct a type A aortic dissection.
Open Surgery Fenestration
This procedure is done to improve blood flow to the arteries that feed the abdominal organs and kidneys, and sometimes the pelvis and legs. The operation entails removing the dissection flap from the aorta and possibly replacing a portion of the aorta.
Open Aortic Reconstruction
For about 30–40% of patients with an aortic dissection, over time, the aortic wall will dilate and form an aneurysm. When such an aneurysm grows to more than 6 cm in diameter, it will likely need repair through open aortic reconstruction. Careful assessment of your health condition is required before considering this extensive procedure.
Treatment Steps
1. Treatment is first given is to control your blood pressure and heart rate, usually in the emergency room.
TEVAR or Stent Grafting
This is a minimally invasive treatment for an aortic dissection or aneurysm. In the case of a dissection, a cloth-covered stent graft is used to seal the tear in the aorta. One or more uncovered stents may be added to support and expand the true lumen in order to improve blood flow to your abdominal organs, pelvis and legs.
Endovascular Fenestration
This is done to improve blood flow to a specific branch artery or to help equalize pressure between the true and false lumens.
TEVAR
Major or minor stroke (up to 5 to 7% of cases); insufficient blood supply to the spinal cord, which can lead to leg paralysis (up to 3%), and extension of the dissection (up to 3%).
Endovascular Fenestration
If the procedure fails to improve blood flow to artery branches, bypass surgery or open surgery treatment of an aortic dissection may be necessary.
For Either Procedure
Bleeding at the puncture/access site may occur; this can be treated with pressure or surgical repair.
What are the risk factors for aortic dissection?
Risk factors for aortic dissection include: High blood pressure. The presence of an aneurysm. Atherosclerosis (or buildup of plaque in the arteries) Certain genetic conditions like a bicuspid aortic valve. Connective tissue diseases (such as Marfan syndrome) which run in families.
How to repair aorta?
Alternatively, the surgeon may use a stent graft which is a fabric tube supported by metal wire stents (like a scaffold) to repair the aorta. The stent grafts are delivered “endovascularly” which means they are placed over a wire through a small incision in the groin and then delivered upstream into the aorta and deployed by releasing the stents like a spring.
What is the most common hybrid procedure?
One of the most common hybrid procedures is called the “elephant trunk” procedure. During this procedure an open operation is performed to repair the aorta close to the heart, as well as the aortic arch – the segment of the aorta where the blood supply to the brain originates.
What causes a dissection of the aortic wall?
Anything that weakens your aortic wall can cause a dissection. This includes inherited conditions in which your body tissues develop abnormally, such as Marfan’s syndrome, atherosclerosis, and accidental injuries to the chest.
What are the symptoms of a dissection of the aorta?
The symptoms of an aortic dissection can be difficult to distinguish from those of other heart conditions, such as a heart attack. Chest pain and pain in the upper back are the most common symptoms of this condition. There’s typically severe pain, coupled with a feeling that something is sharp ...
Why is my aorta dissected?
Causes of dissection of the aorta. Although the exact cause of aortic dissections is unknown, doctors believe that high blood pressure is a contributing factor because it causes strain on the walls of your arteries. Anything that weakens your aortic wall can cause a dissection.
What are the factors that increase the risk of aortic dissection?
The following factors can also increase your risk: high blood pressure. smoking tobacco.
What does it mean when you dissect your aorta?
If you have a dissection of the aorta, it means that blood is leaking outside of the arterial lumen, or interior of the blood vessel. The leaking blood causes a split between the inner and middle layers of the wall of the aorta as it progresses. This can happen if the inner layer of your aorta tears. Sometimes blood hemorrhages from ...
What is the procedure to remove a torn aorta?
Surgeries. The torn section of the aorta is removed and replaced with a synthetic graft. If one of your heart valves has been damaged, this is also replaced. If you have type B dissection, you may need surgery if the condition continues to worsen even when your blood pressure is under control.
Can you survive a dissection of the aorta?
If you have a type A dissection, emergency surgery before the aorta ruptures gives you a good chance of surviving and recovering. Once your aorta has ruptured, your chances of survival decrease. Early detection is essential.
What is the best way to repair aortic dissection?
There are 2 possible surgery methods for aortic dissection repair. The first is standard open-heart surgery. The second is less-invasive endovascular surgery. This may be advised if you aren’t strong enough for open-heart surgery. It may also be advised if the dissection is in your descending aorta.
What is the purpose of dissection of the aorta?
An aortic dissection is a tear (dissection) in the wall of the body’s main artery, the aorta. The aorta sends blood from your heart to the rest of your body. A tear causes blood to get in between the aorta’s 3 layers. This reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients available for your body’s organs. Aortic dissection is a medical emergency.
How to recover from surgery?
This will give you a better chance for a successful recovery from surgery and improve your overall health. Ask your healthcare provider what types of foods to eat and what types of foods to avoid. The recommended diet will depend on all of your healthcare needs. Keep taking your medicines as prescribed.
What are the risk factors for aortic dissection?
This is the part of the aorta that goes up through your chest toward your head. Risk factors for aortic dissection include: High blood pressure. Injury from an accident. Genetic conditions that are passed down in families. Structural heart problems. Smoking.
How often should you follow up after aortic dissection?
These may include blood leaking from the graft. You may need to follow up with your provider every 6 months. After an aortic dissection repair, you’ll need to be careful when doing strenuous physical activities and sports. These activities can put pressure on your aortic wall.
Where do they make an incision for heart surgery?
For a traditional open-heart surgery. Your surgeon will make an incision in your chest or belly (abdomen). The exact spot will depend on where your dissection is located. A heart bypass machine will take over pumping blood around your heart and lungs.
Is aortic dissection a medical emergency?
Aortic dissection is a medical emergency. Early diagnosis and treatment are important. Over time, the tear can affect your brain, lungs, arms, legs, and heart. This depends on where along your aorta the tear occurs . Treatment also depends on where the tear is located.
What is the term for the separation of the rectus abdominis?
Diastasis recti is defined as the separation of the rectus abdominis, a pair of muscles that run vertically down the front of your abdomen. Separation of these muscles can happen to anyone, at anytime in their life. Newborn babies often have a diastasis recti , though this usually resolves on its own.
How to check for diastasis recti?
Here’s how to do it: Get comfortable on a flat surface like a firm bed or yoga mat. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the surface below. Place two fingers in the space directly above your belly button. Gently exhale and then lift your head.
Why do I have a white line on my belly button?
Any repeated strain on the abdominal muscles can cause diastasis recti. Diastasis recti is very common among pregnant and postpartum women. During pregnancy, as your abdominal muscles stretch to accommodate your baby, you may notice a faint white line that runs vertically down your abdomen where your belly button is.
How many women have diastasis recti?
1 . After giving birth, at six weeks postpartum, up to 60% of women will have diastasis recti.
What happens if you don't feel any space in your abdomen?
If you don’t feel any open space between your abdominal muscles as you lift your head, you may not have diastasis recti. In general, experts says that if you're able to fit two or more more fingers in that space, you have diastasis recti.
When is diastasis recti more likely?
According to the National Federation of Professional Trainers, you are more susceptible to developing diastasis recti if you have a baby over the age of 35, if your baby had a high birth weight, if you have had more than one pregnancy, or if you birthed twins or multiples. 2 .
What exercises should I avoid for diastasis?
Exercises to Try. Planks.
