Four-Barrel Aortic Dissection Involving the Ascending Aorta

Abstract

A fifty-four-year-old woman was evaluated at the authors' hospital for symptoms of repeated chest and back pain. The symptoms had recurred for five months prior to admission. A dynamic computed tomographic scan was performed on admission and demonstrated an enlarged ascending aorta with four barrels secondary to split intimal flaps. This case is an extremely rare example of a patient with a four-barrel aortic dissec tion involving the ascending aorta.