rss
Postgrad Med J 2010;86:52-61 doi:10.1136/hrt.2008.153650
  • Review

Acute aortic syndrome: a new look at an old conundrum

  1. I Vilacosta1,
  2. P Aragoncillo2,
  3. V Cañadas1,
  4. J A San Román3,
  5. J Ferreirós4,
  6. E Rodríguez5
  1. 1Instituto Cardiovascular, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
  2. 2Servicio de Anatomía patológica, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
  3. 3Instituto de las Ciencias del Corazón, Hospital Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
  4. 4Servicio de Radiología, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
  5. 5Instituto Cardiovascular, Servicio de Cirugía Cardiaca, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
  1. Correspondence to Dr I Vilacosta, Deparment of Cardiology, C/Profesor Martin Lagos sn, 28040 Madrid, Spain; ivilac{at}medynet.com
  • Accepted 11 December 2008

Abstract

The term acute aortic syndrome (AAS), coined several years ago, is now widely recognised. In the light of new findings in aortic pathology and in an era when modern imaging techniques are widely available and interventional management of AAS is increasing, some morphological and diagnostic aspects of acute aortic pathology have been examined and the syndrome updated. This article provides a new, comprehensive overview of the pathology, diagnosis, evolution and management of patients with AAS. As acute aortic disease is the most common fatal condition in patients with chest pain, prompt recognition and treatment is of paramount importance.

Footnotes

  • This is a reprint of an article that appeared in Heart, July 2009, volume 95, pages 1130–9. Reproduced with kind permission of author and publisher

  • Competing interests None declared.

This Article

  1. Abstract
  2. Full text
  3. PDF

Responses

  1. Submit a response
  2. No responses published

Social bookmarking

Register for free content


Free sample
 This recent issue is free to all users to allow everyone the opportunity to see the full scope and typical content of PMJ.
View free sample issue >>

Free archive
The full back archive is now available for PMJ. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006, back to volume 1 issue 1.
Register to access the free archive >>

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.