Entry Tears in Type B Aortic Dissection Prognosis

Introduction

Acute type B aortic dissection (ABAD) is the most common aortic catastrophe, and is associated with high mortality rates. Besides clinical predictors, recent reports have also analyzed morphologic predictors for adverse outcomes and aortic growth. Indeed, clinical and bioengineering studies have shown that elevated pressure in the false lumen may result in increased aortic growth. The pressure in the false lumen is related to its inflow and outflow, and therefore the number of entry tears detected between the true and false lumens may be important in predicting the degree of aortic dilatation in the long term. The goal of this study was to investigate whether the number of identifiable entry tears is associated with aortic growth in long-term ABAD.