Case Series: Pulmonary Artery Intramural Hematoma in Stanford Type A Acute Aortic Dissection

Main Teaching Point: Diagnosing acute ascending aortic dissection in patients with equivocal radiologic data may rely on associated findings such as pulmonary artery intramural hematoma.

The immediate diagnosis of aortic dissection is paramount in its management. Its diagnosis may be challenging on computed tomography when the intimal flap, pathognomonic of dissection, is not readily visualized. Pulmonary artery intramural hematoma may arise from rupture of the posterior wall of the ascending aorta into the common aortopulmonary adventitia as a result of acute dissection. The clinical significance of pulmonary artery hematoma is unknown, but its presence may facilitate the diagnosis of acute dissection when other radiologic findings are equivocal. Herein, we present four cases of pulmonary artery intramural hematoma associated with Stanford type A acute aortic dissection, among whom patient outcomes depended mainly on the prompt treatment the dissection.