Dissection of aorta: a pediatric case report.

We present a 15-year-old boy who developed sudden walking disability and sensory loss. He could not stand up on his feet and had no feeling following a sudden fall while playing basketball. He had been referred to a local hospital with these symptoms. In his physical examination absence of deep tendon reflexes and sensory loss were noted. His arterial blood pressure was 210/160 mmHg. He was transferred to our hospital with these findings and diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome and hypertensive encephalopathy. There was sudden onset of sensory loss, walking disability and history of trauma. In the following hours hematuria, back pain and lower extremity ischemia developed. We suspected spinal artery injury based on the findings. Dissection of descending aorta was established with the help of magnetic resonance imaging of spinal region and contrasted aortography. The patient went to surgery immediately. He was lost on the second day after operation because of malperfusion. We report this case because dissecting aorta is very rare in the pediatric age group. High index of suspicion and early aortography are needed to diagnose aorta dissection.