Abstract
A 68-year-old woman who had been well for 2 years after ascending aortic
graft replacement experienced sudden chest pain. Computed tomography
showed a large false aortic aneurysm around the prosthesis. However, the
patient was hemodynamically stable and did not have anemia. Emergency
surgery under hypothermic circulatory arrest revealed tears at both the
proximal and distal anastomotic sites and blood circulating from the
proximal (exit) to the distal (entry) tears underneath the pericardium.
To our knowledge, the present case represents a previously unreported
pathology that will be of great interest to cardiologists and cardiac
surgeons.