Type A aortic dissection: Why there is still a role for echocardiography whenevery second counts

摘要

Aortic dissection is often regarded as a catastrophic aortic syndrome with high rates ofmortality. The sensitivity and specificity of transthoracic echocardiography whendiagnosing acute type A aortic dissection has been reported as high as 97% and 100%,respectively, in patients with optimal imaging quality when compared to computedtomography. In this article, we discuss the benefit of transthoracic echocardiography in apatient with type A aortic dissection extending from ascending aorta to iliacarteries.