Chapter 6: Echocardiography in acute aortic dissection

The most important clue to diagnosis of aortic dissection is to keep its possibility in mind in all patients with chest pain or shock.
The presence of (new) aortic regurgitation or pericardial effusion on transthoracic echo in a patient with chest pain should raise the “red flag” of possible type A dissection, even if a dissection flap is not immediately detectable.
A significant blood pressure rise caused by discomfort or gagging during transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) must be avoided.
Although diagnosis of dissection in the descending aorta is accomplished most easily with TEE, both false-positive and false-negative findings occur in the ascending aorta. Use additional computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging if the diagnosis is not evident.

Note: Videos do not contain any sound/audio description.

This content is restricted to only users who have bought the book. To get access to this content for this title please use the button below to request access. Please make sure you have a copy of the book if not then you can purchase one at www.routledge.com/9781032157009.