Ratio of the false lumen to the true lumen is associated with long-term prognosis after surgical repair of acute type A aortic dissection.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to assess potential predictors of aortic events after an emergency surgery for acute type A aortic dissection, especially paying attention to the findings of computed tomography (CT) performed immediately after the surgery.

METHODS

Between January 2001 and December 2015, 72 patients, who were diagnosed as having Stanford type A acute aortic dissection with a patent false lumen in the descending thoracic aorta, survived the emergency operation, and had postoperative CT scan data, were included in this study (mean follow-up, 8.2 ± 3.8 years; range 0.8-17.4 years). From the CT scan data, the diameter of the false lumen (FL-D) and true lumen (TL-D) were measured, and the FL-D:TL-D ratio was calculated. Long-term outcomes of the FL-D > TL-D group (n = 30) and the FL-D < TL-D group (n = 42) were compared.

RESULTS

In the late follow-up, 17 aortic events in the downstream aorta were observed. The FL-D:TL-D ratio (P = .01) was an adjusted risk of aortic events in multivariable analysis. The rates of freedom from aortic events at 5 and 9 years were superior in the FL-D < TL-D group than in the FL-D > TL-D group (92.0% and 88.6% vs 81% and 60.7%; log rank P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that the false lumen:true lumen ratio predicts long-term prognosis after surgical repair of acute type A aortic dissection.