Thoracic aortic transection resulting in a type B dissection following blunt trauma

Abstract

A 39-year-old man sustained an acute grade III aortic injury resulting in a type B aortic dissection in the setting of severe traumatic brain injury, cervical spine injury and multiple orthopaedic injuries following a motorcycle crash. The patient underwent an emergent thoracic endovascular aortic repair, complicated by a thoracic pseudoaneurysm rupture and ongoing exsanguination from a persistent type 1 endoleak. Additional stent grafts were required to gain control of the endoleak. The patient ultimately progressed to brain death post procedure in the intensive care unit. This case reviews treatment considerations in the context of a blunt thoracic aortic transection and distal dissection with concomitant polytrauma.

Keywords: cardiothoracic surgery; resuscitation; trauma; trauma cns /pns.