E. Dicesare et al., MRI POSTOPERATIVE MONITORING IN PATIENTS SURGICALLY TREATED FOR AORTIC DISSECTION, Magnetic resonance imaging, 14(10), 1996, pp. 1149-1156
In most cases, surgery of aortic dissections repairs only the ascendin
g portion of the aorta, leaving a residual dissection in the arch and
descending aorta, We studied 17 patients operated upon for type A aort
ic dissection, A total of 42 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinat
ions were performed, with two to five studies per patient(mean 2.47),
The studies were done between 5 weeks and 47 months (mean 17.5 months)
after surgery, The patients were evaluated by MRI using gated spin-ec
ho and gradient-echo sequences on axial and oblique sagittal views, an
d in selected cases, coronal views, A high incidence of abnormalities
was observed. Pericardial hematoma was observed in 11% of cases, aorti
c and branch involvement in 41%, abdominal aortic branch involvement i
n 47%, dilatation of native aorta in 58%, and extension df dissection
in 10%, New complications were detected during follow-up in 53% of pat
ients, MRI was helpful in the follow-up of patients operated upon for
aortic dissections, owing to its noninvasiveness and multiplanarity, B
y means of this technique, it was possible to obtain information about
the natural history of the disease, as well as information useful for
subsequent treatment. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.