Type A aortic dissection: evaluation with ultrafast CT.

Abstract

The authors examined 17 patients with type A aortic dissection with ultrafast computed tomography (CT). Forty sections with 1-cm intervals, from the aortic arch to the aortic bifurcation, were scanned serially without breath holding within only 74 seconds. Except for two thrombosed dissections, all intimal flaps in the ascending aorta were demonstrated, and 14 (93%) of the 15 surgically proved intimal tears were depicted. An intimal tear in the aortic arch was missed. Since conventional scanning tends not to depict type A aortic dissection, millisecond-order ultrafast CT scanning has the potential to become the modality of choice for imaging of aortic dissection.