Emergency surgical intervention of acute aortic dissection with the rapid diagnosis by transesophageal echocardiography.

Abstract

Forty-five serial patients with acute aortic dissection were examined by transesophageal color Doppler echocardiography (TEE), and the diagnosis was made without aortography. No complications related to TEE occurred. Sufficient information for surgery was immediately obtained at the bedside by the TEE examination. Forty-four of 45 patients (98%) were diagnosed accurately, and 20 emergency operations for patients with type A aortic dissection and six emergency operations for patients with type B aortic dissection were performed. In only one patient, a small intimal flap in the ascending aorta was not detected by TEE. The operative mortality rate was 20% and 50% for types A and B aortic dissections, respectively. As a result of the progress of biplanar TEE technology, an easier and more accurate diagnosis of patients with acute aortic dissection can be achieved. The immediate and accurate diagnosis of acute aortic dissection can be achieved by TEE at the bedside, and treatment strategy can be more precisely determined.