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Circulation. 1998;98:278-280

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(Circulation. 1998;98:278-280.)
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.


Images in Cardiovascular Medicine

Functional Left Main Coronary Artery Obstruction Due to Aortic Dissection

Oz M. Shapira, MD; ; Ravin Davidoff, MBBCh

From the Departments of Cardiothoracic Surgery (O.M.S.) and Cardiology (R.D.), Boston Medical Center, Boston, Mass.

A38-year-old black man with a history of hypertension was admitted with a sudden onset of severe retrosternal chest pain radiating to his back. The initial physical examination was remarkable only for severe hypertension. The ECG (Figure 1Down, top) showed marked anterolateral ST-segment depression with T-wave inversion, suggestive of acute myocardial ischemia. Treatment with aspirin, nitroglycerin, and intravenous heparin was begun. Shortly after admission, the patient developed severe hypotension, pulmonary edema, and a soft diastolic murmur of aortic regurgitation. After resuscitation, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was performed. The long-axis view of the aorta (Figure 2Down) demonstrated a complex, spiral intimal flap in the proximal ascending aorta (solid arrow in all TEE images), diagnostic of type A aortic dissection, and severe aortic regurgitation. A short-axis image during systole (Figure 3Down, top) showed the intimal flap as well as a patent orifice of the left main coronary artery (open arrow in all TEE images) with color flow during systole (Figure 3Down, bottom). The same short-axis view during diastole (Figure 4Down) showed obstruction of the orifice of the left main coronary artery by the intimal flap with no flow. The patient was transferred for emergency operation, during which the TEE findings were confirmed. The orifice of the left main coronary artery was found to be occluded by a flail intimal flap with severe anterior and lateral hypokinesis. The artery itself was not involved in the dissection process. The patient underwent repair of the aortic dissection with reconstruction of the aortic . . . [Full Text of this Article]




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