What constitutes and aortic dissection?
What are the symptoms of aortic dissection? The primary symptom of an aortic dissection is severe pain usually in the chest (front, back or both), but occasionally in the abdomen when the tear begins in that part of the aorta. However, dissections can also cause a variety of other symptoms: pain, pallor, pulselessness, parathesiae and paralysis (the 5 P’s). If a branch of the aorta is blocked, weakness in one or both legs or arms may be evident. In rare situations, the physical symptoms of a stroke or transcient ischemic event could be a result of a dissection. There can be fever, as well, if a dissection has gone on for a while, and there is slight leakage of blood through the thinned wall of the torn section of the aorta or, occasionally, if there is a clot within the aortic wall. A number of other symptoms can occur due to a dissection, but they are not that typical. In addition, the symptoms of a dissection can be mimicked by other causes. For a person with Marfan syndrome or anoth
