Impact of Misdiagnosis in Acute Type A Aortic Dissection in a Tertiary Referral Centre.

Editor—Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) is a life-threatening condition requiring urgent aortic surgery.1 The cornerstone of prognosis includes patient care in referral centres and early diagnosis,2 but the latter is challenging because of the diversity of clinical presentations3,4 and mortality remains higher than 20%.5 Initial misdiagnosis of ATAAD remains commonplace and impacts outcome as it results in surgical delay or inappropriate treatments, especially those interfering with haemostasis that can increase bleeding and mortality.