Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, including details on aaa (abdominal aortic aneurism), cardiac disease, treatment, symptoms, surgery.

Challenges, controversies, and advances in aortic catastrophes.

Haro LH, Krajicek M, Lobl JK

Department of Emergency Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, MN 55901, USA. haro.luis@mayo.edu

Emergency physicians (EPs) are commonly faced with life-threatening entities. Particularly challenging are the aortic catastrophes, such as penetrating aortic ulcers (PAUs), intramural hematomas (IMHs), and atypical presentations of acute aortic dissections and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. Several factors account for this: (1) the rapidly evolving knowledge (particularly in the pathogenesis and precursors of aortic dissection [AD]), (2) the lack of comfort caused by infrequent exposure, (3) the misconceptions about the work up and treatment, (4) the lack of emergent vascular surgery back up in the community, and finally (5) the high short-term mortality and missed rates. Finally, the media has publicized cases of celebrities and other patients who experienced fatal outcomes when their aortic catastrophes went undiagnosed.Practitioners of emergency care should, therefore, understand the challenges, be aware of the recent advances, and help limit the controversies in the evaluation and management of these patients.

Published 3 October 2005 in Emerg Med Clin North Am, 23(4): 1159-77.
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