Type A acute aortic dissection presenting as a stroke in a young male patient

A male patient in his 40s with a history of nephrolithiasis and found in the desert after 10 days without oral intake was admitted to the hospital for severe dehydration, acute kidney injury and rhabdomyolysis. He had acute-onset loss of consciousness during hospitalisation with new left-sided hemiparesis and hemineglect. After haemorrhage was excluded, prompt thrombolysis was given. He later had chest pain and became hypotensive. An echocardiogram revealed pericardial effusion and dilation of the ascending aorta with suspected dissection. Magnetic resonance angiography of the brain and neck reported bilateral parieto-occipital areas of stroke in a watershed distribution and dissection of the right internal carotid artery. CT angiography showed type A aortic dissection from the ascending aorta extending into the bilateral common iliac arteries. Thrombolysis was reversed and the patient underwent ascending aorta replacement, resuspension of the aortic valve and aortic arch debranching at outside facility with complete recovery.