Document Detail


Mega aorta syndrome: a case of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20637399     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
An 83-year-old woman presented to the emergency department (ED) via emergency medical services with the chief complaint of "strokelike symptoms." Physical examination revealed altered mental status, tachycardia, hypotension, and a large nonpulsatile periumbilical mass. Bedside ultrasound revealed a 9-cm abdominal aortic aneurysm with absent central flow. Computed tomography scan demonstrated diffuse thoracic and abdominal aortic dilation with rupture into the mediastinum along with left hemothorax. Repeat beside ultrasound demonstrated abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture not seen on the computed tomography scan. Despite aggressive resuscitation, the patient developed bradycardia, which devolved into pulseless electric activity cardiac arrest. She was unable to be resuscitated. The patient's diffuse aneurysmal dilation places her into the small category of patients with a disease entity known as mega aorta syndrome (MAS). Mega aorta syndrome is defined as aneurysmal dilation of the aorta to greater than 6 cm in diameter. Although not in our case, most cases of MAS are symptomatic before catastrophic presentation. The disease progression for these patients is slow and occurs over years. When this disease is recognized early, a surgery known as the elephant trunk procedure can be performed. This operation replaces the entire aorta in multiple stages. This gives the emergency physician a critical role in the diagnosis and outcome of these patients because they may come through the ED for an unrelated complaint early in the disease process. This case report illustrates an advanced case of MAS.
Authors:
William C Wu; Christopher A Mitchell; Derek Linklater
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Case Reports; Journal Article     Date:  2010-03-25
Journal Detail:
Title:  The American journal of emergency medicine     Volume:  28     ISSN:  1532-8171     ISO Abbreviation:  Am J Emerg Med     Publication Date:  2010 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-07-19     Completed Date:  2010-08-12     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8309942     Medline TA:  Am J Emerg Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  747.e1-3     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, TX 76544, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Aged, 80 and over
Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / complications*,  diagnosis*,  therapy
Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / complications*,  diagnosis*,  therapy
Female
Humans
Syndrome

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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