Dissected Aorta Type A

[Kbpm]

Hello, my father is a 78 year old man who has recently been diagnosed with a dissected aorta type A. He had quadruple heart bypass 11 years ago. In October 2023 he stopped taking his Furosemide- a stupid thing to do as it started off a rollercoaster of health problems, now resulting in this diagnosis.

Surgery is not an option, his health is not in a good condition. In himself he is absolutely fine. The doctors do not understand how he is still alive, after looking at the CT results, they are flabbergasted and put it down to thr graph from the bypass being excellent and now holding it all together.

I want to know has anyone else had any experiences like this?? How long did they stay alive?? From what I'm reading, apart from the fact he should already be dead..... we do not have very long with him? Thank you for reading

[JulianM]

Hi there - it is not completely clear to me which country your father is in ... but it does sound like he has a good medical team.

It might be worth looking at the Patient Guide which was launched last year by Aortic Dissection Awareness UK and Ireland. See this story for details (there's a download link at the end of the news story): aorticdissectionawareness.o....

There is also a US edition available from Aortic Hope here: aortichope.org/hope-shops

My understanding, from having met a number of aortic dissection survivors with medically managed dissections, and having read into some of the literature, is that while it is unusual to survive a Type A dissection without surgery, it's not completely unknown. (Type B dissections are more often medically managed, and some Type A dissections are only partly repaired, so people live with medical management of dissections beyond the part which has been replaced/supported surgically.)

The main medical priority is to keep blood pressure low. The longer a person survives, the more chance there is for the aortic wall to stabilise in its new condition. Statistics aren't helpful here: the motto of Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland is 'Today is a Good Day'.

Hope this is helpful and wishing you and your father all the best.

[Kbpm in reply to JulianM]

Thank you, I will look at the links now. He is in the UK.... I am living in St Lucia so his medical care is a lot better! Take care