Twenty years’ experience of type B aortic dissections: a population-based national registry study from Finland

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence, treatment and survival of Stanford type B aortic dissection (BTAD) during 20 years in the Finnish population. METHODS: Data collection was made from the Nationwide Care Register for Health Care, Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare. All patients over 15 years of age with BTAD from 2000 to 2019 were included in the study. A data search of the Registry of Death Cause (Statistic Finland) was carried out to identify the date and cause of death. RESULTS: There were 1742 cases of BTAD during the study period. BTAD represented 45.6% of all aortic dissections leading to hospital admission. Incidence for BTAD was 1.62 per 100 000 inhabitants per year. The median survival was 12.7 years [95% confidence interval (CI) 9.63–14.7], 12.4 years (95% CI 10.5–14.4) and 8.6 years (95% CI 7.5–9.7) for patients treated with thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), surgery and medical treatment (MT), respectively. Survival was significantly better after TEVAR and surgery, compared to MT only (P < 0.001). Age-adjusted survival was significantly better after TEVAR compared to patients treated with MT or surgery (hazard ratio 0.578, 95% CI 0.420–0.794, P < 0.001). Aortic-related death was the most common cause of death in all groups (41%). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of BTAD seems to be similar in the Finnish population compared to other populational studies. Patients treated with TEVAR had significantly better survival compared to other patients. A high risk for late aortic-related death should be recognized in patients with BTAD.