Abstract
Aortic dissection is a life-threatening medical emergency often presenting with severe chest pain and acute hemodynamic compromise. The presentation of aortic dissection can sometimes be different thus leading to a challenge in prompt diagnosis and treatment as demonstrated by the following presentation and discussion. We present a case of a 71-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with complaints of left sided temporoparietal headache and was eventually diagnosed with a thoracic aortic dissection involving the ascending aorta and descending aorta, with an intramural hematoma in the descending aorta. This case illustrates the importance of keeping in mind aortic dissection as a differential diagnosis in patients with acute onset headaches in which any intracranial source of headache is not found.
Highlights
Aortic dissection is a relatively uncommon, though catastrophic, illness often presenting with severe chest pain and acute hemodynamic compromise
This is a case of 71-year-old Caucasian male with past medical history significant for choroideremia who presented to the emergency department (ED) with complaints of left sided temporoparietal headache upon waking up on the day of admission
On extensive review of medical literature we only found a handful of cases of aortic dissection presenting as headache
Summary
Aortic dissection is a relatively uncommon, though catastrophic, illness often presenting with severe chest pain and acute hemodynamic compromise. The presentation of aortic dissection can sometimes be different leading to a challenge in prompt diagnosis and treatment as demonstrated by the following presentation and discussion
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