A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Dissection

Ruptured descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (DTAA) is a rare event and remains asymptomatic in over 95% of cases, often leading to the under-detection of most thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) unless incidentally discovered during routine imaging, medical examinations, or autopsy following sudden de...

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Main Authors: Jayeshkumar Kanani, Kunjan Modi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2024-10-01
Series:Heart Views
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/heartviews.heartviews_100_24
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author Jayeshkumar Kanani
Kunjan Modi
author_facet Jayeshkumar Kanani
Kunjan Modi
author_sort Jayeshkumar Kanani
collection DOAJ
description Ruptured descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (DTAA) is a rare event and remains asymptomatic in over 95% of cases, often leading to the under-detection of most thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) unless incidentally discovered during routine imaging, medical examinations, or autopsy following sudden death. This case report presents a 56-year-old male with a history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus who was managed with regular medication, collapsed suddenly, and was found unconscious. Emergency medical services declared him dead on arrival. An autopsy examination disclosed 2750 g of blood in the left pleural cavity and a 2.5 cm transverse tear in a saccular aneurysm on the descending thoracic aorta with aortic dissection (AD). Histopathological analysis confirmed necrosis, fibrosis, and a mixed inflammatory infiltrate at the rupture site, with features consistent with healed myocardial infarction and grade VII atherosclerosis. This case underscores the importance of recognizing the silent yet fatal nature of saccular aneurysms in the descending thoracic aorta.
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series Heart Views
spelling doaj-art-53946015a5ae4d28974ddd4ab52740282025-08-20T03:19:23ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsHeart Views1995-705X0976-51232024-10-0125427027410.4103/heartviews.heartviews_100_24A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with DissectionJayeshkumar KananiKunjan ModiRuptured descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (DTAA) is a rare event and remains asymptomatic in over 95% of cases, often leading to the under-detection of most thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) unless incidentally discovered during routine imaging, medical examinations, or autopsy following sudden death. This case report presents a 56-year-old male with a history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus who was managed with regular medication, collapsed suddenly, and was found unconscious. Emergency medical services declared him dead on arrival. An autopsy examination disclosed 2750 g of blood in the left pleural cavity and a 2.5 cm transverse tear in a saccular aneurysm on the descending thoracic aorta with aortic dissection (AD). Histopathological analysis confirmed necrosis, fibrosis, and a mixed inflammatory infiltrate at the rupture site, with features consistent with healed myocardial infarction and grade VII atherosclerosis. This case underscores the importance of recognizing the silent yet fatal nature of saccular aneurysms in the descending thoracic aorta.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/heartviews.heartviews_100_24aortic aneurysmaortic dissectionaortic rupturecardiovascular emergencydescending thoracic aortic aneurysmhypertensionsaccular aneurysmthoracic aortic disease
spellingShingle Jayeshkumar Kanani
Kunjan Modi
A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Dissection
Heart Views
aortic aneurysm
aortic dissection
aortic rupture
cardiovascular emergency
descending thoracic aortic aneurysm
hypertension
saccular aneurysm
thoracic aortic disease
title A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Dissection
title_full A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Dissection
title_fullStr A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Dissection
title_full_unstemmed A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Dissection
title_short A Rare Case of Sudden Death due to Rupture of Saccular Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Dissection
title_sort rare case of sudden death due to rupture of saccular descending thoracic aortic aneurysm with dissection
topic aortic aneurysm
aortic dissection
aortic rupture
cardiovascular emergency
descending thoracic aortic aneurysm
hypertension
saccular aneurysm
thoracic aortic disease
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/heartviews.heartviews_100_24
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