Type A aortic dissection: Why there is still a role for echocardiography when every second counts
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Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Author Spotlight: Using Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Comprehensive Evaluation of the Abdominal Aorta
Published on: September 8, 2023
Peter Luke1, Karen Booth2, Ali Kindawi2
1Echocardiography Department, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
Abstract:
Aortic dissection is often regarded as a catastrophic aortic syndrome with high rates of mortality. The sensitivity and specificity of transthoracic echocardiography when diagnosing acute type A aortic dissection has been reported as high as 97% and 100%, respectively, in patients with optimal imaging quality when compared to computed tomography. In this article, we discuss the benefit of transthoracic echocardiography in a patient with type A aortic dissection extending from ascending aorta to iliac arteries.
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