Aortic Dissection?

[Brandon K]

Hey, I was just wondering how serious does the chest trauma have to be to cause aortic dissection?  Can it be just a little hit or does it have to be a major episode of blunt trauma to cause it?  Also, I was wondering how soon after the episode of trauma does the pain set in?  Is it immediate or could it possibly come 24 hours after the event?  And can the pain go away and then come back?  I'm just curious because last night I had some of the most excruciating back pain ever coupled with a little abdominal pain and chest pain and it got me worried and any feedback would be appreciated.

[stevemmm9]

I was just diagnosed with an dilated aortic root measuring 4.4 and am currently awaiting a repeat scan in July to see if it is growing...dissection also concerns me and the cardiologist said very little weightlifting from now on, but exercise is OK...I was weightlifting for about 6 months before this diagnosis, and I had not weightlifted for many years previous to that, but I don't know if it will ever be known if that caused this.  I don't recall any tearing pain.  I've heard that some dissections happen over a period of time?  I wonder if that is different that just continuous dilating?  

[pbanders]

Well, if you're not dead yet, then it probably wasn't aortic dissection! I narrowly avoided this fate at 46 when my 5.0 cm ascending aorta was detected during a routine echo (no symptoms) and I had surgery to correct it.

While it's unlikely you have a dissection, there's no harm in checking for it. Talk to your doctor and see if you can get either a CT, MRA, or perhaps even just an echo.

[Brandon K]

I have been doing weight training recently and sometimes doing it until I couldn't anymore.  But I haven't worked out my abs and thats why it's weird to me that they hurt, especially when I stretch.  I am only 25 years old.  The only kind of chest trauma would be me pushing it against a pad or hitting the pad that they use on some machines in the gym, but i'm not sure if this would be intense enough to merit worry.  I was just worried because the back pain was really bad as was the pain in my right side under my armpit, like someone was ripping it and tearing the muscle.  It was some of the worst in my life.  I read online though that some people had their aortic dissection misdiagnosed and they caught it a few visits later so sometimes the rip isn't serious at first but it gets worse with time.  I just want to know if that was a possibility because I'm really worried about it.

[PghPanther]

agree with comments here.............get the echocardiogram and see what it says..............if you get a clear go that its okay then you need to consider that pain radiating from some other structure of the body.

[PghPanther]

You don't sound anything like it so don't let what I say below scare you....

Do you train at all?

In particular do you weight train or do anything physical that is very stressful?

And are you over 40yrs of age?

Okay, let me tell you where I'm going with this.

As we get older our veins and arteries begin to lose their elasticity.........any high stress physical exertion to the heart can push the BP top numbers up to 250 to 300!........That is very taxing on a 4 or 5 decade heart and the aorta that connects to it.....

John Ritter died from an aorta dissention........but his was inherited from what I understand.

What I can tell you is that if you had an aorta dissention you wouldn't be on this board telling us about it...

Usually when it happens it dislodges from the heart in a violent fashion and if you are not in surgeory within 20 mins you usually die from blood loss.

Also, I understand that pain from it is the worse feeling a person can have....it has been described like a stabbing knife in the chest.

Now, I recommend that you talk to your doctor........make a suggestion that you get an echocardiogram of your heart......that will shed light on the subject and avoid any stressful physical things until you get an all clear from them.

But if you are over 40 and do exercise be very careful of the exertion levels you reach while training muscles in resistance movements..........

........btw, aerobic or running doesn't put the same stress on the heart...........yes you get an elevated HR with runnning but the blood pressure stays much lower than with resistance training where both the heart rate and blood pressure can go through the roof.

One more tip...........real promising evidence is being shown with the consumption of just 1.5 ozs or a handful of shelled walnuts eaten 4 times a week or more.......they are showing to improve the elasticity of the veins and arteries in middle aged folks.....not to mention they have a host of other good things going on with them for your heart and overall health.

I hope this info helps but please confirm it with a doctor.......its only my lay person's opinion based on my research and coversations with other doctors.

I hope it helps.........