Impact of time from symptom onset to operation on outcome of repair of acute type A aortic dissection with malperfusion

Abstract Objectives We analyzed patients with acute type A aortic dissection complicated by malperfusion syndrome to establish whether the timing of operative treatment and the location of malperfusion are factors in determining outcomes. Methods A total of 331 patients with acute type A aortic dissection were treated surgically between August 2003 and May 2019. Eighty-four patients (25%) presented with preoperative malperfusion syndrome. Fifty-eight patients with malperfusion syndrome (69%) were transferred to the operating room within 5 hours of the onset of symptoms (immediate repair); 26 patients (31%) were transferred after 5 hours (later repair). We analyzed the effects of immediate aortic repair on surgical outcomes. Results There was no significant difference in the early mortality rates between patients with immediate and later aortic repair, which were 20.0% (n = 11/58) and 26.9% (n = 7/19), respectively (P = .12). Preoperative coronary malperfusion was the only predictor of early mortality. The cumulative 5-year survivals of patients with malperfusion syndrome in the immediate and later repair groups were 76.7% and 45.4%, respectively. A significant difference was noted in the long-term outcomes between the 2 groups (P = .02). On multivariable Cox survival analysis, coronary malperfusion and shock on arrival were associated with increased long-term mortality (P  Conclusions Although preoperative coronary malperfusion and shock on arrival worsened the long-term outcomes in patients undergoing aortic repair for acute type A aortic dissection with preoperative malperfusion syndrome, conducting an operation within 5 hours of the onset of symptoms significantly improved their long-term outcomes.