OBJECTIVETo explore the diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy-associated acute Stanford type A aortic dissection to improve the maternal and fetal outcomes.

METHODSWe analyzed the perioperative data of 5 pregnant women with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection treated between June, 2009 and February, 2017.

RESULTSThe median age of the women was 30 years (range, 22-34 years) with gestational weeks of 23-38 weeks upon diagnosis. All the 5 patients received surgical interventions. Three patients underwent caesarean delivery and hysterectomy, and the fetuses survived after the surgery; 2 patients chose to continue pregnancy following the surgery, among whom one died due to postoperative complications and the other underwent termination of pregnancy. During follow-up, the surviving patients showed no endoleak in the descending aorta stent and the distal dissection remained stable.

CONCLUSIONThe maternal and fetal outcomes of pregnancy-associated acute Stanford type A aortic dissection can be improved by multidisciplinary cooperation and optimization of the surgical approaches according to the time of pregnancy, fetal development and conditions of the aortic lesions.