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Unsuspected aortic dissection: the chronic "healed" dissection.

Of all aortic dissections, 10% are chronic. Typically they arise distal to the left subclavian artery and have reentry points into the true lumen. Pain may be minimal or absent and patients often present with cardiac failure. Chronic dissections are more likely to appear radiographically as atherosclerotic aneurysms on a chest film than are acute dissections. Four cases of chronic dissections found incidentally during angiography are presented.

Acute Disease

Dissecting aortic aneurysms: a clinicopathological study. I. Clinical and gross pathological findings.

One hundred and seventy-one patients with dissecting aneurysm seen between 1951 and 1976 at three hospitals in Manchester were studied. There were 60 proximal dissections, 80 distal dissections, 10 abdominal dissections and in 21 the site of origin was uncertain. Pain was the major symptom in 88 per cent of patients; radiation of pain to the interscapular region was much more common in distal dissections. Systemic hypertension was present in 77 per cent, being commoner in distal dissections (83 per cent) than in proximal dissections (70 per cent). Aortic incompetence, hemiplegia and shock were all more common in proximal dissections. Post-mortem examination was performed in 125 patients. Eighty-four per cent of proximal dissections had ruptured, 74 per cent into the pericardium and five per cent into the left pleural cavity. Seventy per cent of distal dissections had ruptured, 11 per cent into the pericardium and 41 per cent into the left pleural cavity. The extent of the dissection was analysed, and it was shown that 25 per cent of distal dissections had extended proximally into the ascending aorta and arch. This implies that diagnosis of the site of origin of dissection from clinical signs and the plain chest-radiograph is inaccurate. Aortography is required for precise assessment. Since treatment often varies with the site of dissection, aortography should be performed in most patients surviving the first few hours. Attention is drawn to the frequency (10.4 per cent) of multiple aortic lesions, and to the occasional aetiological significance of giant-cell arteritis, and, possibly, hypothyroidism.

Adult

Observations on the treatment of dissection of the aorta.

The results are presented of treatment in twenty-three patients with dissection of the thoracic aorta, in four of whom it was acute (less than 14 days' duration), and in nineteen chronic (more than 14 days' duration). Sixteen patients had Type I and II dissection (involving the ascending aorta) and five Type III (descending aorta at or distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery); in two, dissection complicated coarctation of the aorta in the usual site. Thirteen patients had aortic regurgitation. Three of the patients with acute dissection were treated medically; two, both with Type I dissection, died, and the third, with Type III, survived. The remaining acute patient was treated surgically and also died. Of the patients with chronic dissection, eight were treated medically and eleven surgically. None of the medical group died in hospital; three died between 3 months and 1 year, and five have survived from periods of 12-72 months. Eleven patients with chronic dissection were treated surgically; four died in hospital at or shortly after operation; and the remaining seven lived for periods of 12-84 months. The presentation, indications for surgical treatment and results are discussed. It is concluded that surgical treatment of chronic dissection may carry a higher initial mortality than medical, but that there may be slightly better overall long term results in the former. As this series was not selected randomly, because patients with complications were selected for surgery, and there are only a few patients in each group, the results do not permit firm conclusion regarding the relative merits of medical and surgical treatment. It is suggested that all patients should initially be treated medically but that surgical treatment should be considered if the dissection continues, if aortic regurgitation is severe, if an aneurysm develops or enlarges, if cardiac tamponade develops or there is evidence of progressive involvement of the branches of the aorta. Attention is drawn to the important syndrome of chronic dissecting aneurysm of the ascending aorta with severe aortic regurgitation which requires definitive surgical treatment and aortic valve replacement. The importance of adequate visualization of the origin and extent of the dissection as a preliminary to surgical treatment is stressed.

Acute Disease

Ascending vs descending aortic dissections.

One hundred eight patients with spontaneously developing thoracic aortic dissection were seen between 1966-1973, 78 of whom had acute dissection and 30 chronic. The age (49 vs 60 yrs) and incidence of hypertension (32% vs 71%) were significantly lower in the 56 patients in whom dissection originated in ascending aorta than in the 52 patients in whom the dissection originated in the upper descending aorta. The mortality rate in medically treated patients with acute ascending aortic dissection was 88%. Cardiac tamponade was the major cause of death. The mortality rate was significantly lower in those who were treated surgically (24%). Fifteen (54%) of the patients with ascending aortic dissection and significant aortic incompetence did not have aortic valve replacement and only two subsequently (53 and 92 months later) required valve replacement. Although the initial mortality in patients with acute descending aortic dissection treated medically and surgically was similar, the long term survival rate was higher in the surgically treated group. We conclude that ascending aortic dissection and descending aortic dissection have different clinical profiles and prognoses. Immediate surgical intervention is indicated in patients with acute ascending aortic dissection. Patients with acute descending aortic dissection can be treated medically initially followed by early elective operation.

Acute Disease

Neck dissection: radical or conservative.

Four hundred and forty-five neck dissections for epidermoid carcinoma over a 10-year period are reviewed as to local recurrence of neck disease. Three hundred and forty-seven dissections were radical en bloc procedures and in 98 a modified conservative technique was utilized. Cervical lymph node classification was applied and a comparison made of the two techniques. A review of the anatomy of cervical fascias and the technique of conservative neck dissection is given. Evaluation of this series of cases indicate that the control of local disease in the neck in the N0 and N1 groups is is accomplished as well with conservative dissection as with radical neck dissection. The number of conservative neck dissections for N2 disease was too limited for accurate comparison. There were no conservative neck dissections done for N3 disease. We suggest that conservative neck dissection be utilized for subclinical and N1 disease and that the classic en bloc dissection be reserved for N2 and N3 situations.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell

Operative treatment of aortic dissections. Experience with 125 patients over a sixteen-year period.

An unselected, consecutive cohort of 125 patients underwent operative repair of acute and chronic aortic dissections with tubular graft interposition over a 16 year span. The absence of remote geographical referral biases and the unselected nature of this series provided a patient population that was representative of the disease process (as assessed heretofore only from autopsy series). Furthermore, this enabled high-risk subsets to be defined by retrospective analysis. Patients were classified according to whether the ascending aorta was involved (type A with involvement, type B without), irrespective of the site of intimal tear, and according to age of the dissection: Fifty-three patients had acute type A (Ac-A), 29 had chronic type A (Ch-A), 20 had acute type B (Ac-B), and 23 had chronic type B (Ch-B) dissections. Fourteen percent (17/125) of the dissections had ruptured. Concomitant aortic valve replacement (AVR) was performed in 11% (6/53) for Ac-A cases and 38% (11/29) of the Ch-A cases. A total of 391 patient-years of follow-up was analyzed; follow-up averaged 4.5 years and extended to 13.7 years. Over-all operative mortality rate was 34% (18/53) for Ac-A, 14% (4/29) for Ch-A, 45% (9/20) for Ac-B, and 22% (5/23) for Ch-B; during the most recent 5 year interval these figures were lower: 27%, 8%, 20%, and 20%, respectively, N = 50. Multiple preoperative variables were found to correlate significantly with both operative death and long-term survival. Operative survivors generally experienced satisfactory functional benefit. Late attrition averaged 8% per year; 61% of all late deaths were related to cardiac or cerebral causes. Over-all actuarial survival (+/- SEM) for the entire cohort was 54% +/- 5% at 5 years and 26% +/- 7% at 10 years; for the 89 patients surviving operation, these figures were 76% +/- 5% and 37% +/- 10%, respectively. No significant differences in long-term survival were evident between the different subgroups. Whether the primary intimal tear had been resected or concomitant AVR had been performed had no statistically significant bearing on operative mortality, functional result, necessity for late reoperation, or late attrition. The long-term "natural" history of surgically treated patients with aortic dissections, as defined in this study, should facilitate comparison with other treatment modalities. Results of the present analysis support immediate operative intervention for patients with Ac-A dissections and probably for those with Ac-B dissections. Additionally, surgical treatment of patients with symptomatic or enlarging Ch-A and Ch-B dissections provides satisfactory rehabilitation and long-term survival. Finally, we re-emphasize our recommendation for simplified classification of aortic dissections, based solely upon the presence or absence of ascending aortic involvement. Pathophysiology and expected biologic behavior pivot on this feature, and appropriate clinical strategy can thereby be defined.

Adult

Aortic dissection: surgical and nonsurgical treatments compared. An analysis of seventy-four cases at the University of Virginia.

During the eleven year period from 1965 to 1976, aortic dissection was diagnosed in seventy-eight patients treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center. The seventy-four cases that comprise the present report were confirmed by aortography, surgery, or autopsy. Forty patients (54 per cent) were surgically treated by interruption of the origin of dissection and insertion of a Dacron prosthesis. The remaining thirty-four (46 per cent) were treated according to the Wheat regimen or by nonspecific supportive measures. The overall survival at one year was 28 per cent. One year survival for patients with type I dissections treated surgically was 19 per cent compared with 8 per cent one year survival for nonsurgically treated patients. Sixty per cent of patients with type II dissections treated surgically were alive at the end of one year, whereas no patients with type II dissection treated nonsurgically survived beyond one year. Half the patients with type III dissections treated surgically were alive at one year compared with 35 per cent of those nonsurgically treated. These data suggest that surgery is the treatment of choice for all types of aortic dissections, but particularly for type II. Patients with type I dissections have a very poor prognosis regardless of therapy.

Aged

The discovery of the body: human dissection and its cultural contexts in ancient Greece.

In the first half of the third century B.C, two Greeks, Herophilus of Chalcedon and his younger contemporary Erasistratus of Ceos, became the first and last ancient scientists to perform systematic dissections of human cadavers. In all probability, they also conducted vivisections of condemned criminals. Their anatomical and physiological discoveries were extraordinary. The uniqueness of these events presents an intriguing historical puzzle. Animals had been dissected by Aristotle in the preceding century (and partly dissected by other Greeks in earlier centuries), and, later, Galen (second century A.D.) and others again systematically dissected numerous animals. But no ancient scientists ever seem to have resumed systematic human dissection. This paper explores, first, the cultural factors--including traditional Greek attitudes to the corpse and to the skin, also as manifested in Greek sacred laws--that may have prevented systematic human dissection during almost all of Greek antiquity, from the Pre-Socratic philosopher-scientists of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. to distinguished Greek physicians of the later Roman Empire. Second, the exceptional constellation of cultural, political, and social circumstances in early Alexandria that might have emboldened Herophilus to overcome the pressures of cultural traditions and to initiate systematic human dissection, is analyzed. Finally, the paper explores possible reasons for the mysteriously abrupt disappearance of systematic human dissection from Greek science after the death of Erasistratus and Herophilus.

Animals

The clinical recognition of dissecting aortic aneurysm.

The clinical, roentgenologic and laboratory findings in 124 patients with dissecting aneurysm of the aorta are reported. In 53 patients the dissection occurred in the ascending aorta ("proximal" dissection), and in 71 patients the site of origin was the descending thoracic aorta ("distal" dissection). Certain distinct clinical differences between the groups were apparent. Although hypertension was an important predisposing factor, it was significantly more common in distal dissection, as was atherosclerosis. Back pain and hypertension on hospital presentation characterized patients with distal dissection. Conversely patients with proximal dissection were younger and had a significantly higher incidence of Marfan's syndrome, cystic medial necrosis, anterior chest pain, pulse deficits, neurologic compromise, aortic insufficiency and congestive heart failure. In both groups, syncope appeared to correlate well with the occurrence of cardiac tamponade. Chest roentgenograms almost always showed an abnormal aortic contour. Aortic angiography, when performed, was usually confirmatory of the diagnosis.

Adult

Indications for neck dissection in carcinoma of the lip.

In the past, neck dissections have been recommended only when nodes were clinically palpable or when they became so. A retrospective ten year study of thirty-seven patients with carcinoma of the lip and with an unusually high mortality has allowed reevaluation of indications for neck dissection. (1) Ten of thirty-seven patients died of this disease and nearly all of the ten died with and because of regional metastases. (2) Seven patients with nonpalpable nodes initally had nodal metastases later which, despite neck dissection at that later time, proved lethal. (3) Two patients who, despite nonpalpable nodes, had undergone neck dissections and were found to have occult bilateral nodal metastases were effectively cured with early neck dissection. This suggests that early bilateral supramohyoid neck dissections for small carcinomas of the lip and ipsilateral radical neck dissections for large primaries may yield higher cure rates than currently achieved.

Adult

Ten years of surgery of aortic dissections and aneurysms. Clinical experience and original contributions.

From January '82 to April '91, 117 patients with aortic disease were operated upon at our University Hospital in Genoa, Italy. Thirty-seven had arch dissections or aneurysms; 66 had acute aortic dissection type A and 14 had aortic dissections or aneurysms type B, acute and chronic. Patients with arch or type B aortic pathology but without surgical indication and cases of post-traumatic aortic transections are not included. There were 84 male and 33 female patients with a mean age of 52 (6 min and 74 max). In the acute patients, the mean interval between clinical onset and surgery was 34 hours (6 min-72 max). All patients with primary arch disease had surgical repair with the aid of deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest (17-96 min). Type A dissections were treated with standard CPBP at 28 degrees C. Surgical techniques included direct suture of intimal tear alone, direct suturing of the two aortic stumps; interposition of Dacron tubular prosthesis; Bentall repair; separated valve and aortic replacement; an original aortic bulb aortoplasty with valve repair; arch replacement with resuturing of one or more aortic trunks. Human fibrin glue (Tissucol) was employed either as haemostatic agent, widely spread over the suture lines or as tissue adhesion agent between dissected aortic layers. Human fibrin glue is adopted because it gathers high glueing capacity and maintenance of the elastic property of the vessel wall. Hospital mortality (30 days) has been 25% in ascending aortic dissections (16/66 patients) and 50% in patients with arch disease (18/37 patients) who needed circulatory arrest. Late mortality 5/83 (6%). Reoperations for aortic valve insufficiency or re-dissection have been 7 (8.4%). Early diagnosis (increasing reliability of 2D-Echo and CT scans), aggressive surgery, meticulous myocardial and cerebral protection and introduction in clinical use of biological glues seem to be the milestones of present and further improvements in surgical results.

Acute Disease

The effects of extraperiosteal and subperiosteal dissection. II. On fracture healing.

The effects of subperiosteal and extraperiosteal dissection on the healing of tibial osteotomies were studied in fourteen rabbits killed three weeks after the osteotomy. Of the tibiae exposed subperiosteally, 71 per cent healed; of those exposed extraperiosteally, only 7 per cent had solid union. The first group had a significantly lower level of hydroxyproline in the callus and higher values for breaking load, breaking strength, and absorption of energy to failure. In ten animals that also had muscle transection at the osteotomy site, the rate and type of healing was similar whether no dissection, subperiosteal dissection, or extraperiosteal dissection had been done, but the callus showed lower calcium levels and higher hydroxyproline levels than in either of the groups with muscle trauma. This implies retardation of healing caused by muscle injury. Our data suggest that in the absence of muscle damage, subperiosteal dissection results in earlier healing than does extraperiosteal dissection. Muscle transection markedly retards healing; then, after transection, neither type of dissection appears to retard healing more than the other.

Animals