TERM PREGNANCY AND ACUTE ASCENDING AORTIC DISSECTION: A CHALLENGE

Abstract

Aortic dissection in pregnancy is a rare life-threatening event, endangering both mother and fetus. The physiological changes associated with pregnancy worsen the pathological changes in the aorta and the risk of dissection increases with increasing gestational age. The immense challenge presented by such case necessitates multidisciplinary management by cardiac surgeons, perfusionists, obstetricians, anesthetists, pediatricians, intensivists and nursing teams and even then, favorable outcomes are hard earned. The rarity of such condition and difficulty in its management, make it a reportable case. Here, we report a twenty-four-year-old primigravida on two antihypertensives, presenting with acute aortic dissection at thirty-seven weeks and two days of her gestation, who underwent a successful Caesarean Section and ascending aortic replacement in the same setting. Both the mother and the baby are doing well at two years follow up.