Dissecting the Dissection: Towards More Comprehensive Decision-Making Methodology for Thoracic Aortic Disease.

Aortic dissection remains one of the most devastating diseases. Current practice guidelines provide diagnostic and therapeutic interventions based primarily on the aortic diameter. The level of evidence supporting these recommendations is Level C or "Expert Opinion" Since aortic dissection is a catastrophic structural failure, its investigation along the guidelines of accident investigation may offer a useful alternative, utilizing process mapping and root-cause analysis methodology. Since the objective of practice guidelines is to address the risk of serious events, on the utilization of a probabilistic predictive modeling methodology, using bioinformatics tools, may offer a more comprehensive risk assessment.