Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Emergency Imaging, Arteries / Aorta, Cardiovascular system, Emergency, CT, CT-Angiography, Contrast agent-intravenous, Acute, Not applicable
Authors:
V. Gandileva1, R. D. Popova2; 1Pleven/BG, 2Burgas/BG
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2020/C-08278
Background
The acute aortic syndrome (AAS) is a constellation of life-threatening conditions, which are manifestations of anatomic and pathophysiologic changes to the aortic wall with similar predisposing factors and indistinguishable clinical presentation. The typical symptoms and signs of AAS are sudden onset of chest pain with radiation to the back and hypertension. However, in some cases, the onset may be a manifestation of organ ischemia, including myocardial infarction, mesenteric ischemia, etc.
According to the classical classification, the term includes aortic dissection (AD), intramural hematoma (IMH), and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer (PAU) (fig. 1). Some authors add incomplete dissection and unstable aortic aneurysm. CT angiography is the gold standard for the diagnosis of AAS because of its high sensitivity, specificity, minimal invasiveness, and fast image acquisition [1].