SURGERY OF ASCENDING AORTIC DISSECTION , A SIX YEARS EXPERIENCE

Acute dissection or the ascending aorta requires immediate surgical intervention. Without surgical treatment II:I,) of the patients will die every hour. In this study we report the result ofoperations on patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection. From 1997 to 2003. 26 patients (16 males, 10 females) aged 30 to 71 years (mean age 4~.9 :i: 2.3 years) underwent surgical treatment. In all of them ascending aorta was replaced and in 16 patients aortic valve was also replaced with prosthetic valve. In 3 patients the aortic valve was repaired, in 7 patients valve was normal. Hospital mortality amounted to 23.07~i(J (6 patients). Only 13 patients could be followed and the rest of the patients did not return for follow up. During this period of time no patient had to be reoperated upon for late complications of the disease and none of these patients died in the follow up. Presence of Marfan's syndrome, renal failure. stroke, cardiac failure, and rcopcration were determinant risk factors for mortality. With early diagnosis and surgical treatment about 771~'~J ofthese patients survived postoperatively.