Aortic dissection and rupture that produce right ventricular perforation: detection by echocardiography and color flow mapping.
Aorta to right ventricular fistula is a rare complication of ascending aortic dissection that has previously been diagnosed ante mortem only by cardiac catheterization. This report describes a patient who had aorta to right ventricular fistula that caused a left-to-right shunt and marked hemodynamic instability. An anatomic diagnosis was made rapidly in this patient by use of echocardiographic techniques. Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography have an important role in defining the cause of cardiovascular collapse after aortic dissection.
Davies
N J
NJ
Division of Cardiology, Toronto General Hospital, Canada.
Butany
J
J
Yock
P G
PG
Rakowski
H
H
D000368:Aged; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001011:Aorta; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis; D004452:Echocardiography; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005402:Fistula / Q000175:diagnosis; D006341:Heart Rupture / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006406:Hematoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male