Dissection of the aorta.

Recent experience indicates that the treatment of acute aortic dissection is satisfactory in about 75 percent of cases. Most centers have moved to early operations for those dissections involving the ascending aorta and a combination of anti-impulse therapy and expectant operative treatment for those dissections involving only the descending aorta. Physicians seeing acute circulatory problems should be aware of catastrophic nature of aortic dissection and of the available methods for its diagnosis and treatment.