Aortic dissection, a rare sequela of percutaneous coronary intervention, can be fatal when it is not recognized and treated promptly. Treatment varies from conservative management to invasive aortic repair and revascularization. We report the cases of 2 patients whose aortic dissection was caused by percutaneous coronary intervention. In addition, we present detailed analyses of 86 previously reported cases. Aortic dissection was most often seen during intervention to the right coronary artery (in 76.7% of instances). The 2 most frequently reported causes were catheter trauma (in 54% of cases) and balloon inflation (in 23.8%). The overall mortality rate was 7.1%. We conclude that most patients can be treated conservatively or by means of stenting alone, with no need for surgical intervention.
Keywords: Angioplasty, balloon, coronary/adverse effects; aneurysm, dissecting/diagnosis/etiology/radiography/surgery/therapy; aorta/injuries; cardiac catheterization/adverse effects/methods; coronary disease/therapy; coronary vessels/injuries; iatrogenic disease; intraoperative complications/etiology; stents; treatment failure/outcome.