Double Emergency Associating Acute Aortic Dissection and Pulmonary Embolism of Fatal Evolution: About a Case

Pulmonary embolism and acute aortic dissection are two formidable cardio-vascular emergencies. Their association, although exceptional, is burdened with a heavy mortality in the absence of an early and adapted surgery. We report a case of Standford acute type A aortic dissection associated with fatal pulmonary embolism. This is a 66-years old man with a notion of a long trip received for prolonged chest pain since 3 days, of sudden onset, maximal intensity, tearing, transfixing, migratory, radiating towards the back and the loins, exacerbated by breathing. The examination noted 120 bpm tachycardia, 70% SaO2 desaturation, asymetric blood pressure and asymetric pulse, aortic insufficiency murmur and bilateral crackling rettles at lungs. The chest X-ray showed an enlargement of the upper mediastinum with double-contoured image. The electrocardiogram recorded a regular sinus tachycardia at 132 cycles/min, a lateral sub epicardial ischemia in lateral leads. CT scan revealed total thrombosis of the right branch of the pulmonary artery extending to part of the trunk and an intimal flap from the aortic arch to the abdominal aorta. The evolution was brutally lethal two days after hospitalization. The dissection of the aorta and the pulmonary embolism are medical emergencies whose association poses more difficulties as well on the diagnosis plan but especially therapeutic.