Early diagnosis and treatment of this illness is critical for survival. "While aortic dissections are a less common diagnosis than a heart attack, patients present in a similar fashion with significant chest pain or back pain, and the mortality risk is very real, which is why rapid and appropriate diagnosis and treatment is so important," says study co-author, Kevin Harris, MD, research cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.Īn aortic dissection is a tear in the wall of the aorta of the heart that allows blood to flow within the layers of the aorta. Established in 1996, IRAD currently has 30 large referral centers in 11 countries participating in the registry. The International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissections (IRAD) is a consortium of research centers, including MHI, which evaluates the management and outcomes of acute aortic dissection. "We reviewed data from the large-scale IRAD registry to obtain a real-world understanding of this patient population in the contemporary era." Strauss, MD, MPH, a research cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and physician at the Minneapolis Heart Institute® (MHI) at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.
"In the 1950s, the medical literature suggested that the mortality rate for type A acute aortic dissection was one percent per hour, but we have limited information about the current rate in an era where advanced diagnostic imaging is often readily available," explains lead study author, Craig E.