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Keyboardist of the famous music group Depeche Mode, Andy Fletcher, 60, died at his home on May 26 of an aortic dissection. What is this pathology? How does it arise? The answers of Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo.
At the request of Andy Fletcher’s family, the other members of the group took to social media to explain that their sidekick had died at his home of an aortic dissection at the end of May.
What is an aortic dissection?
Different from the aneurysm, which is a pocket that forms in the wall of a blood vessel, the aortic dissection most often takes place at the level of the arch of the aorta, the “bridge” that the vessel makes when leaving from the heart down to the abdomen. At this place, “a kind of false channel is created which will be dug by the arterial pressure and which will eventually give way, often resulting in massive bleeding“explains Dr Gérald Kierzek.
A complication of high blood pressure
Aortic dissection is secondary to arterial hypertension. “The typical case is a man in his sixties, who presents with severe pain in the chest which may radiate to the back, difficulty in breathing, vomiting. On examination, we take the blood pressure in each arm and when we are faced with a dissection, it will be different on the right and on the left. further exposes the specialist.
To make the diagnosis, the doctors use certain neurological signs (paralysis, etc.) and send the patient urgently to the imaging department, in order to have him undergo an injected scanner.
Three cases per 100,000 people
Medication to lower his blood pressure will be immediately given to him, so as not to make the tear worse. Treatments are possible, carried out by cardiac surgeons. These are two different operations, one by replacing the damaged part of the aorta, the other by placing stents (a vascular endoprosthesis).
It is a rare pathology, which affects an average of 3 people per 100,000 in France. However, it has a high mortality rate, around 50%, of which 20% will die before they even arrive at the hospital.
Consult a cardiologist online
Consult systematically in case of chest pain
In terms of prevention, regarding aortic dissection, it is important to fight against high blood pressure. This requires a balanced lifestyle, eating less salt and doing half an hour of physical activity every day.
“No chest pain is not to be taken lightly because it can sign the presence of various serious pathologies such as aortic dissection, infarction, pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax…” concludes our specialist.