Point-of-care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Type B Aortic Dissection on the Suprasternal Notch View

Abstract

Aortic dissection (AD) is a life-threatening but uncommon and challenging diagnosis to make in the emergency department. Cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is often used to evaluate patients with chest pain and may be used to rapidly diagnose Stanford type A AD on the suprasternal notch view if there is the visualization of a dissection flap. In contrast, a diagnosis of type B AD on the suprasternal notch view is rare and has only been reported in one previous case report. We report the case of a patient who presented with chest pain and was accurately diagnosed with type B AD using the suprasternal notch view.

Keywords: aortic dissection; emergency ultrasound; point of care ultrasound; suprasternal.