Researchers at the U-M and several other leading medical centers
are reporting that a high percentage of patients with a life-
threatening heart condition are still dying in the hospital in
spite of recent medical advances. Their findings are published
in the Feb. 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association. The ailment is called acute aortic dissectiona
rare, but often fatal condition, characterized by separation of
the aortic walls. Aortic dissection occurs in two forms: Type A
dissection involves the ascending aorta; type B occurs near the
left subclavian artery and down the descending aorta. Despite
recent advances in diagnosis and treatment of aortic dissection,
the morbidity and mortality for this rare cardiovascular
disorder remain unacceptably high, says Kim Eagle, interim chief
of the Division of Cardiology and lead author on the new study.
Speaking on behalf of 18 leading aortic centers around the world
that are working together to understand and treat aortic
dissection, Eagle and col