| pubmed-article:3096234 | pubmed:abstractText | We report a case of spontaneous incomplete rupture of the first segment of the ascending aorta presenting as aortic incompetence and acute tamponade confirmed by preoperative angiography in a 57 year old hypertensive woman. This patient underwent emergency conservative surgery with good results at 8 months' follow-up. This rare pathology occurs in the same terrain as dissection of the aorta. The diagnosis should be suspected not only when chest pain and/or aortic incompetence are associated or not with acute tamponade, contrasting with a normal electrocardiogram, but also in atypical presentations which necessitate angiography in multiple incidences in order not to miss the diagnostic signs which are often invisible in the standard projections. When there are no complications, this condition may pass undiagnosed. However, in most cases, it leads to acute tamponade due to intrapericardial rupture or to an aortic aneurysm or aortic incompetence. The latter complications are usually associated with severe regurgitation requiring surgical correction, which in some cases may be conservative. | lld:pubmed |
