Acute Aortic Syndrome in Aotearoa New Zealand: What Does It Mean for Māori?

There is increasing evidence that New Zealand has a relatively high incidence of acute aortic syndrome (AAS), which has been attributed to the disproportionately high incidence of AAS among the indigenous Māori population. There is growing interest in the use of risk-stratification tools to help clinicians determine which patients with suspected AAS should proceed to advanced imaging. The aortic dissection detection risk score has been proposed as a novel tool for excluding AAS when coupled with a serum D-dimer <500 ng/mL. However, its use in Māori has not specifically been evaluated. A review of AAS in Māori is herein undertaken with a call made for further work to clarify the outcomes and incidences in Māori. Given that Māori ethnicity is a high-risk criterion for AAS, it is recommended that, until the rule-out test is validated in Māori, clinicians have a low threshold for excluding AAS with advanced imaging.