Acute Aortic Dissection Occurring “Behind The Wheel”, Report of 11 Cases

Abstract

We investigated the clinical picture of non-traumatic acute aortic dissection (AAD) occurring behind the wheel. Between 1990 and 2014, AAD had occurred in 11 patients while driving (nine men, mean age; 58.3 years, seven commercial drivers). The symptoms included chest and/or back pain (n = 9) and syncope (n = 2). One patient with syncope caused a traffic accident. Ten patients had type A dissection (DeBakey type I) and 1 type B dissection. In-hospital mortality was 9.9% (1/11). Our data showed if affected drivers are transported to a hospital in a timely fashion, a good surgical outcome can be expected.