Earlie Smith experienced an aortic dissection. Months later, her brother, Larry Smith, also had one. The same doctor helped them both.

While ascending aortic dissection is a surgical emergency, a descending aortic dissection can be treated medically in most cases. Type I ... Computed tomography (CT) is the definitive diagnostic ...

There are two classification systems used to describe thoracic aortic dissections: The DeBakey classification: Type I: Dissection originating ... Computed tomography (CT) is the definitive ...