¶ … safe perioperative practice, it is believed that communication is crucial to providing quality of service. Prenatal surgical patients with Type A aortic dissection require extra special care, using innovative technologies and methods. When acute aortic dissection occurs during pregnancy, both the mother and the fetus are at risk. The problem is relatively rare. Collaboration with an entire medical team is also indicated.
The databases of hundreds of hospitals worldwide were surveyed for statistics on pregnant women admitted who required acute aortic dissection. The participants experienced either Type A or Type B aortic dissections. From these databases, a pool of randomly selected examples was chosen for inclusion in the retrospective research. Researchers obtained informed consent before proceeding to compile twenty case studies.
Results: It was found that women with the Type A dissection were more likely to survive emergency surgery plus a Caesarean section than women with Type B dissection. Moreover, the fetuses were more likely to survive the Caesarian section birth in the situations in which a Type A dissection was indicated. The aortic repair to the mother proceeded after the Caesarean section, but the duration of time between the Caesarian and the aortic repair operation varied from mother to mother. Although only one mother died in the current study, 85% of the fetuses from mothers with Type B dissections perished after the invasive procedures.
Conclusions: Type B aortic dissections require special attention and intervention. To influence safe perioperative practice, the medical team must work together to provide top quality of care to both mother and fetus. Mothers with Type A dissections are more likely to keep their babies and survive the invasive operations, and so are their fetuses. It is the mothers with Type B aortic dissections that are the at-risk population. Doctors and the rest of the healthcare team must pay close attention to the needs of mothers with Type B aortic dissections. Innovative technologies that can prevent bleeding and the other complications that arise with a Type B aortic dissection are discussed and recommended for future research.
Reference
Zeebregts, C.J., Schepens, M.A., Hameeteman, W.J., Morshuis, A.B. (1997). Acute aortic dissection complicating pregnancy.
