Complicated postpartum type B aortic dissection and endovascular repair

Fifty percent of aortic dissections in women younger than 40 years occur in association with pregnancy. Of these, half of type B dissections occur in the postpartum period.

A 30-year-old woman was status post spontaneous vaginal delivery at 30 weeks of gestation for fetal death, complicated by an eclamptic seizure. On postpartum day 4, she suffered an acute, complicated type B aortic dissection treated with endovascular stent graft placement.

Endovascular repair may be an attractive option for the treatment of complicated type B aortic dissections in pregnancy and the peripartum period, with reduced maternal and fetal mortality. This may allow the fetus to remain in situ and avoid the risks of surgery and possible cardiopulmonary bypass, with little radiation risk to the fetus.