ISSN : 1301-5680
e-ISSN : 2149-8156
Turkish Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery     
Aortic occlusion: five case reports
Serhat Akay, Gökhan Elçin, Nazif Erkan
Emergency Department, İzmir Bozyaka Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey
DOI : 10.5606/tgkdc.dergisi.2012.181
Aortic occlusion (AO) is a rare entity with high morbidity and mortality. In this article, we present five cases who were admitted to Emergency Department with various symptoms and diagnosed with AO of abdominal aorta. All five cases had overlapping symptoms. Medical history of all cases included atherosclerotic diseases such as coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular and peripheric artery disease. Four of the cases had complete occlusion of abdominal aorta, while one had 95% occlusion. Computed tomography remained an important tool for the diagnosis. All the cases had signs of mesenteric ischemia and died despite all efforts. As the aorta perfuses different systems and limbs, symptoms of AO may vary from patient to patient. Thus, it may be challenging for physicians to diagnose this disease. Although the diagnosis is based on early embolectomy or grafting and revascularization is ensured, mortality is inevitable in most of the cases. The differential diagnosis of AO should be considered in the patients with overlapping symptoms and a comprehensive physical examination with vascular components should be performed.
Keywords : Aortic occlusion; computed tomography; emergency department
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