[Aortic dissection in pregnancy: report of 2 cases]

Two women suffered from aortic dissection during the third term of pregnancy. The first one, 37 years old, died from a sudden and intractable cardiovascular shock at the end of pregnancy, but the fetus was saved by cesarean. The diagnosis was made post mortem. In the second case a faster diagnosis and a slower development of the aortic dissection allowed, during the 29th week of pregnancy, a surgical treatment after cesarean saving both the mother's and newborn's life. The histological examination in both cases showed only non specific alterations of the collagenous and the elastic fibres.