Don’t forget to check your arteries for sudden chest pain

  So what is the disease of entrapment aneurysm, how can it be so terrible and what are its characteristics?  The normal blood vessel can be divided into three layers: the outer membrane, the middle membrane, and the inner membrane.  The intima plays a major role in maintaining the strength and integrity of the vessel wall, which is composed of more than 20 layers of elastic plates superimposed on each other, figuratively speaking, like the sandwiches we usually eat. Normally, these laminae adhere to each other as a whole. When various pathogenic factors act for a long period of time, the integrity of the lining may be destroyed and potential gaps exist between the laminae. Once the endothelium is broken, blood rushes into this gap, and the impact of the blood in all directions continues to cause damage between the laminae, tearing distally and peripherally. The remaining mesothelium and epithelium are then exposed to the direct impact of the blood and are likely to be unable to withstand the pressure and rupture. Once ruptured, the high velocity, high pressure blood flow from the aorta immediately breaks through and spews out like a flooding dike, often killing the patient within seconds due to blood loss. Most patients experience sudden onset of severe chest pain, when in fact a coarctation has already formed. Some of these patients may die immediately, a smaller number may die during transport to the hospital, and some may die during treatment. According to statistics, 90% of patients die within two weeks if they are not treated surgically, which can be described as nine deaths.  2. CT examination can be used to make a diagnosis of a clogged aneurysm. Most of the patients have sudden and severe chest pain and back pain as the first symptom, accompanied by a strong sense of dying and sweating, which is very similar to the attack of myocardial infarction. Doctors also generally examine the patient with a set of procedures for myocardial infarction. The patient’s electrocardiogram and myocardial enzyme profile are usually not abnormal, and in a small number of patients there may be minor changes, but it is difficult to link the patient’s severe pain. At this point, the patient requires a CT chest scan, which can be extremely helpful in the diagnosis of the disease by clearly detecting lesions in the aorta, and can also serve as a differential diagnosis by observing any abnormalities in the lungs and chest wall. Of course, DSA (digital subtraction angiography), CTA (CT angiography), and MRA (magnetic resonance angiography) can also be performed when conditions are available. The latter three examinations require higher equipment and technology, which are not always available in primary care hospitals, and are generally used only in preparation for surgery. In the case of emergency diagnosis, CT examination is more appropriate.  3. Hypertension Most of the patients with aneurysms have a history of hypertension, and it can be said that hypertension is the first causative factor of aneurysms. Most of the patients with hypertension have the characteristic that the high blood pressure is not ideally controlled and fluctuates greatly. The fluctuating blood pressure repeatedly shocks the blood vessel wall, which causes the structural imbalance and strength of the blood vessel wall to decrease after a long period of accumulation, and the blood flows into the interstitial membrane, resulting in the tearing of the membrane and the formation of a coarctation aneurysm. During the course of an entrapment aneurysm, the patient experiences sudden, severe pain in the chest and back, sometimes spreading down the plane of pain to the legs as the diaphragm continues to tear downward. The arteries supplying the spinal cord emanate directly from the aorta, and if the tear in the diaphragm causes damage to these vessels, the patient may experience sudden paraplegia.  Therefore, it is very important for hypertensive patients to control their blood pressure smoothly and reliably.  4.Minimally invasive surgery is a smart way to cure the stubborn brother. Clamped aneurysms are extremely dangerous and need timely surgical treatment. The traditional surgical treatment is to remove the diseased aorta after opening the chest, and then replace a section of artificial blood vessel. This needs to be performed on the basis of artificial diversion and cardiac arrest. The surgery is extremely risky, with a mortality rate of up to 60% if the patient has some other organ lesions, such as coronary artery disease, old slow branch, or renal failure. It can be said that patients are in a dilemma. With the development of science and technology, the emergence of minimally invasive treatment has brought a boon to patients. Minimally invasive treatment for clotted aneurysm is to use a set of membrane stents to close the fissure of the clotted aneurysm by intracavitary isolation, thus preventing the high pressure and high speed blood flow from impacting the outer wall of the clot, and avoiding further progression and rupture of the clotted aneurysm. After isolation, the aneurysm cavity gradually thromboses and shrinks. Intracavitary isolation treatment can be performed under local anesthesia and generally requires only a small incision in the patient’s groin, which is minimally invasive and allows the patient to be out of bed the next day.  Therefore, whether it is the patient himself or his family, when you encounter sudden chest pain, you should be more attentive to the fact that the real culprit may be a coarctation aneurysm, and medical workers should pay more attention to it. As long as it can be diagnosed early and treated, there is a great hope for a complete cure.