From 1978 to July 1997, 140 patients with extended Stanford type A aortic dissection underwent surgical treatment. There were 77 acute and 63 chronic aortic dissections. The follow-up period of the 61 surviving patients in acute aortic dissection ranged from 2 to 164 months (mean, 56 months). During follow-up periods, 6 patients died of no dissection-related causes. The actuarial survival ratios in 77 patients were 77.2% at 3 years, 72.2% at 5 years and 62.6% at 10 years, respectively. There was no significant difference between acute aortic dissection and chronic aortic dissection in actuarial survival ratio. The ratio of the clotted false lumen in the distal aorta was lower and subsequent surgery was more frequent in patients with Marfan syndrome than those with non-Marfan syndrome. In extended type A aortic dissection, the observation of the residual false lumen using body CT scan was very important after surgery, especially in Marfan syndrome. If the false lumen is dilated, a subsequent surgery is needed to get good late results.