Influence of Age on Clinical Presentation, Therapeutic Options, and Outcome in Chinese Patients with Acute Aortic Dissection

It has been shown in previous studies that Chinese patients with acute aortic dissection (AD) were approximately 10 years younger than patients from western countries. However, there is a lack of studies concerning the age-related differences in clinical characteristics and outcomes in Chinese patients with acute AD. A total of 1,061 patients with AD (570 type A and 491 type B AD) were enrolled between 2006 and 2008. The clinical characteristics were compared between the patients in our study and those in the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD). Compared with patients in the IRAD, those in our study were relatively younger, comprised more males, and had a higher proportion of Marfan syndrome but received fewer surgical interventions. When stratified by 10-year age, younger patients were more likely to have type A AD, familial AD, and Marfan syndrome, whereas older patients tended to comprise more females and type B AD. As age increased, the proportion of surgical intervention gradually decreased regardless of the type of AD. During a median follow-up of 2.2 years, 147 patients died, of whom 94 (63.9%) had type A AD and 53 (36.1%) had type B AD. Long-term mortality increased with increasing age, especially in patients above 70 years old. Furthermore, the recurrence rate of AD was higher in both the young and the older patients. In conclusion, compared with western patients with AD, Chinese patients have distinct characteristics and more attention should be paid to the young and older patients because of their high long-term mortality and recurrence rate.