Acute Type A Aortic Dissection in Adolescents and Young Adults Under 30 Years of Age

Prevalence and etiology of type A acute aortic dissection (AADA) in patients less than thirty years of age was investigated through retrospective data collection at sixteen international institutions. 139 cases were identified, representing 1.8 percent of all AADA. Connective tissue disease (CTD) was evident in 36.7 percent of patients. Non-CTD patients had an approximately five-fold higher incidence of arterial hypertension than CTD patients (47 percent versus 10 percent). 9.4 percent of the cohort had a family history of aortic disease. Actuarial survival at ten years postoperatively was 80 percent. The authors concluded that open surgery has good early results and excellent mid- to long-term outcomes.