Purpose: To retrospectively assess the value of MRI in long-term follow-up of aortic dissection (AD) and its impact on therapy.
Materials and methods: Comparison of clinical progression and analysis of 215 MRI examinations performed on 56 patients in our center from 1991 to 2002.
Results: Twenty-six patients (46%) had AD complications: 14 (54%) were asymptomatic and eight (31%) had subsequent surgical repair (native aorta upstream prosthesis disease in three patients and aneurismal dilatation of false lumen in five cases). Of the eight patients with secondary surgery, five (63%) were clinically asymptomatic. The delay between initial dissection and secondary surgery was less than 5 years in five patients and exceeded 10 years in three cases. The remaining 30 patients (54%) had unmodified radiological findings after a mean follow-up of 3.5 years (6 months to 9 years).
Conclusion: MRI depicted AD complications in long-term follow-up of sometimes asymptomatic patients, allowing for adaptation of surgical treatment in 26 cases (46%).