[Surgery for acute aortic dissection extending to the aortic root using gelatine-resorcine-formol biological glue--a...

A 73-year-old woman was admitted with chest pain of sudden onset and hypotension. Enhanced CT showed the dilated ascending aorta with an intimal flap. Emergency surgery was performed under a diagnosis of type A acute aortic dissection and cardiac tamponade. Replacement of the ascending aorta was planned, but during the operation we found that the dissection had extended to the aortic root and that the laceration of the adventitia was located just distal to the aortic annulus. Since the laceration was closer to the aortic annulus than the coronary ostium, it was impossible to reconstruct the aortic stump by classical techniques using Teflon felt strips. Gelatine-Resorcine-Formol (GRF) glue was therefore used to reinforce the proximal aortic stump. We then curved the suture line of the proximal anastomosis so as to resect the laceration while preserving the ostia of the coronary arteries. We were thus able to perform simple replacement of the ascending aorta successfully and the postoperative course was uneventful. By using GRF glue, replacement of the aortic root can be avoided in such cases.