10 hours of surgery to save life of a foreign patient suffering from a serious aortic dissection

25/01/2022 10:55

Doctors of Viet Duc University Hospital (VDUH) have just saved life of patient E.N, 49 years old, a Turkish nationality with acute type A aortic dissection, at high risk of death.

 

Dr Phung Duy Hong Son, MD, PhD – Deputy Director of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center, VDUH said: Patient E.N presented to the hospital with severe chest pain, dyspnea. CT scans showed that the patient had a dissection of the entire aorta causing acute intestinal ischemia. Acute type A aortic dissection is a very serious cardiovascular disease which can end the patient’s life at any time, so it requires prompt diagnosis and emergency surgical invention. A team of cardiothoracic surgeons performed replacement of a thoracic aortic arch and ascending aorta. At the same time, a team of gastrointestinal surgeons performed laparoscopy surgery to make sure that the intestines were still ruddy. The surgery took almost 10 hours. 3 days after surgery, the patient was stable and alert.         

 

According to Assoc. Prof Nguyen Huu Uoc – Director of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center, VDUH: VDUH is a major medical facility in the country. In recent years, the hospital has performed routine emergency surgery to treat type A aorta dissection with a success rate of more than 90% the same results of many developed countries in the world. Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center of VDUH had treated 71 cases of type A aortic dissection in 2020 and more than 60 cases in 2021. Currently, the center is treating 3 difficult and complicated cases.  

     

Common major risk factors of aortic dissection are: Hypertension along with atherosclerosis (common in the elderly) or congenital disorders of the vascular wall (eg, Marfan’s disease). In addition, the disease can easily occur when there’s sudden change in surrounding temperature from hot to cold or when one’s experiencing strong emotions… In recent years, the disease is targeting younger and younger population, now commonly seen in middle-aged people. The mainstay of treatment for acute type A aortic dissection is surgery. Because it has to deal with many complicated and complex lesions so this surgery is very intricate and lengthy. On the other hand, mortality and complication rate is the highest in cardiac surgery, requiring long hospital stay and recovery time, huge treatment costs.

 

Doctors recommend that the prevention of aortic diseases is very important. In particular, it is necessary to detect, control and treat high blood pressure – a potential risk of many dangerous cardiovascular diseases. Once diagnosed with acute type A aortic dissection, patients should immediately be admitted to hospitals with adequate surgical capabilities, avoiding being hospitalized to intermediate medical facilities to minimize complications and the risk of death.