Case report: Critical lower limb ischaemia due to aortic dissection relieved by percutaneous transfemoral fenestration

Abstract

Acute dissection of the aorta has a very high mortality and morbidity, even with optimum treatment. Without therapy, the mortality at three months is reported as 90% [1]. With therapy, the overall in-hospital mortality rate reaches 15% to 20%. Occlusion of aortic branch vessels is a well known and serious complication of acute and chronic aortic dissection, usually requiring urgent surgical intervention. This is associated with a large increase in mortality [2,3]. We have recently performed a percutaneous transfemoral fenestration of the aortic septum in a chronic dissection of the abdominal aorta to relieve unilateral lower limb ischaemia.