Out of hospital cardiac arrests and aortic dissection

INTRODUCTION: Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) is one of the main causes of death worldwide. Most of the intrinsic causes of OHCA tend to be of cardiac origin, however, non-cardiac etiologies such as acute aortic dissection (AAD) may be more common than previously thought. The aim of this focused review is to summarize current knowledge on the association between OHCA and AAD. METHODS: A systematic review was previously performed on the incidence of AAD in the context of OHCA. For this publication, the selected references were reviewed to address three pre-determined questions: 1) How prevalent is Acute Aortic Dissection in Patients presenting with Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest? 2) What clinical signs are associated with OHCA due to Acute Aortic Dissection? 3) How can we treat these patients and what is their prognosis? RESULTS: AAD may cause OHCA due to several reasons, such as retrograde involvement of the coronary arteries, aortic valve insufficiency, pericardium tamponade, aortic rupture, massive stroke, visceral malperfusion or hypertensive induced heart failure, for example. Since both the treatment and diagnosis of acute aortic dissections have improved, a growing number of OHCA due to AAD patients have been diagnosed and managed, however, the epidemiology and outcomes of these patients are still not fully understood.