[An ascending graft replacement surgery in acute aortic dissection with preoperative cerebral infarction responding to postoperative external and internal decompression; report of a case].

We report a case of a 71-year-old woman who had extensive cerebral infarction associated with acute type A aortic dissection. We urgently performed ascending aortic graft replacement. Postoperative computed tomography of the brain taken immediately after the aortic surgery showed further aggravation of the right cerebral edema and a midline shift. The patient underwent emergent internal and external decompression of the brain. Eventually, consciousness recovered to normal level though preoperative left paraplegia persisted. She was discharged 150 days after the operation. We conclude that immediate internal and external cerebral decompression after surgery for acute type A dissection with preoperative cerebral malperfusion can prevent postoperative higher brain dysfunction.