Chennai: Aorta is the largest blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to other parts of the body. A tear or cut in this artery can lead to death, if not diagnosed and treated within few hours of discovering the symptoms.
According to experts, one in five people with an aortic dissection (Tear in the aorta) die before getting admitted to a hospital and the mortality rate among these people stands at more than 50 per cent.
The symptoms of an aortic dissection are similar to that of a heart attack where one can undergo sudden severe chest pain or back pain, difficulty in breathing, loss of consciousness, weak pulse rate, paralysis of legs etc.
Hence it becomes imperative to get it diagnosed as early as possible. Other risk factors of an aortic dissection include chronic hypertension, old age, weakened arteries and severe Chest pain etc. Normal ECG in a hypertensive patient should create suspicion of aortic dissection.
This being the scenario, Kauvery Hospital Chennai said it performed three complex surgeries in the aorta within a month.
“Dissection of aorta is a technically challenging surgery and it needs the right expertise within the window period to see the success rate,” says Dr A R Raghuram, senior consultant, cardiac surgeon.