Treatment of coronary malperfusion in type A acute aortic dissection

Coronary malperfusion is one of the most dreadful complications of acute aortic dissection because it causes catastrophic acute myocardial infarction in patients who are already severely ill. Our strategy was as follows. After the administration of heparin, emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was urgently performed at the same time as starting to prepare the operating room. A stent was then placed to cover the full length of dissected coronary artery. Patients whose cardiac function improved after successful coronary artery reperfusion were transferred to the operating room to undergo central repair surgery. If the cardiac function did not recover even after coronary reperfusion, and the patient required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, we considered the best supportive care without performing central repair surgery. In patients with left coronary malperfusion, we believe that preoperative PCI must be performed immediately. Preoperative PCI might delay central repair surgery and potentially increase the risk of catastrophic cardiac tamponade. However, the benefit of PCI in preserving cardiac function exceeds the risk of cardiac tamponade. The indications of PCI before central repair in patients with right coronary malperfusion should be considered after assessing each patient’s condition, including the presence or absence of cardiac tamponade and right ventricular infarction, left ventricular function, the immediate availability of cardiologists or cardiac surgeons, and the speed of preparing the operating room.