December 15, 2020 by Admin

Aortic Dissection Management and Treatment

What is an aortic dissection?

An aortic dissection is a severe heart condition, wherein the inner layer of the large blood vessel branches out of the heart, or the aorta tears. The blood gushes out of the tear, which causes the middle and the inner layers of the aorta to dissect or separate. If this blood vessel ruptures from the outer aortic wall, then the condition is considered fatal.

Aortic dissection is very uncommon. This heart condition mostly happens in men in their late 60s and 70s. The symptoms or signs of aortic dissection are often similar to the other diseases that men experience, which often leads to a delay in proper diagnosis. But when the aortic dissection gets detected early and promptly treated, it improves the chances of success.

Types of aortic dissection

The kind of treatment needed for aortic dissection depends on the location and type of tear. In general, there are two types of aortic dissection:

Type A aortic dissection

Type A aortic dissection is a tear that is located much closer to the heart. This kind of tear could be fatal. If aortic dissection diagnosed is as Type A, then it requires urgent dissecting aortic aneurysm surgery to replace or repair the primarily affected portion of the aorta or the ascending aorta, i.e., the place of origination of the tear. The risk to life is lower in this urgent dissecting aortic aneurysm surgery — only about 15 to 20%. This risk factor, however, depends on the patient’s status or condition at the time of the surgery.

Type B aortic dissection

The Type B aortic dissection is a tear that happens further away from the heart, further down in the aorta, i.e., in the descending aorta. The Type B dissection might not require surgery initially, but it does require intensive control of the blood pressure along with medical therapy. These are the paramount requirements to ensure that the tear is managed efficiently and is prevented from being severe and fatal. Type B aortic dissection patients are administered blood pressure medicines intravenously followed by careful and close monitoring of their condition and the tear. Depending on the response to the medication and the severity of the tear, the requirement for a surgical procedure can take up to months or even years to be initiated. There is an exception, however, which occurs when the downstream tear obstructs the flow of blood to the important organs of the body such as the kidney, legs, intestines, and spinal cord. In these cases, similar to the Type A aortic dissection patients, they need immediate and urgent dissecting aortic aneurysm surgery to ensure it doesn’t pose a risk to their life.

Treatment for aortic dissection

Depending on the severity of the condition, there are different ways to treat aortic dissection. These include:

Endovascular and surgery treatment– Based on the actual extent of the tear on the aorta, the aorta may need a permanent repair in the form of open surgery, wherein the affected aorta is removed, and a tube made of fabric, called the graft, is sewn directly into the diseased region of the aorta. Moreover, the surgeon could also use a stent graft as an alternative to the normal graft to repair the aorta region. The stent-graft is a fabric tube that is supported by a stent made of metal wires, similar to a scaffold. The stent-graft is deposited or delivered endovascularly, which means that the graft is installed over the wire with the help of a tiny incision in the groin region. Then the graft gets delivered or deposited upstream in the aorta and gets installed by releasing the stents like the spring.

One more option available for patients with aortic dissection is the hybrid approach. This approach utilizes the combination of endovascular stent graft technology and traditional open surgery. The most commonly used hybrid surgical procedure is termed as ‘The Elephant Trunk’ process. In this surgical procedure, first, open surgery is performed. The open surgery repairs the aorta which is close to the heart, and the aortic arch region — the point of origin of the blood supply from the heart to the brain. Besides, an extra graft is kept hanging towards the downstream or descending aorta, which resembles the trunk of the elephant. This elephant trunk offers a permanent landing place for the endovascular stent graft which gets placed during the additional procedure near the groin. Newer and better hybrid surgical procedures include reconstruction surgery of the aortic arch blood vessels and repairing the complicated aortic dissections in your chest region.

Medications– Medications include beta-blockers, which are prescribed by the doctor to lower the heart rate and blood pressure. Further, the doctor may prescribe additional medication depending on the condition of the ailment and patient.

These are the best forms of aortic dissection management and treatment. You can do some research on the aortic aneurysm surgery cost in India as well as the best surgical procedures to treat aortic dissection.

If you want more information about aortic aneurysm surgery cost in India, then you must visit Vascular India today.

Category : Aortic Dissection

Tags: aortic aneurysm surgery cost in India, Aortic Dissection, dissecting aortic aneurysm surgery