Aortic dissection accompanied by preeclampsia in a postpartum young woman

ABSTRACT

Aortic dissection is very rare in obstetrics, but it is a fatal disease. A 37-weeks primigravida woman with dyspnea and pitting edema presented to our emergency room. The patient was diagnosed with preeclampsia and underwent an emergency cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. The patient complained of severe dyspnea after the cesarean section, and the chest computed tomography scan was done. With the finding of aortic dissection, cardiopulmonary arrest occurred 5 hours after the cesarean section, and the patient died without reaction to cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. If a patient with preeclampsia complains of severe dyspnea or chest pain, aortic dissection needs to be suspected and a diagnosis should not be delayed.