Hemolytic anemia caused by aortic flap and inversion of felt strip after ascending aorta replacement

BACKGROUNDS: Hemolysis related to a kinked prosthetic graft or inner felt strip is a very rare complication after aortic surgery. We describe herein a case of hemolytic anemia that developed due to aortic flap of the dissection and inversion of an inner felt strip that was applied at the proximal anastomosis of a replaced ascending aorta 10 years previously. CASE PRESENTATION: A 74-year-old woman presented with consistent hemolytic anemia 10 years after replacement of the ascending aorta to treat Stanford type A acute aortic dissection. The cause of hemolysis was attributed to mechanical injury of red blood cells at a site of stenosis caused by aortic flap of the dissection and inversion of the felt strip used for the proximal anastomosis. Repeated resection of the strip and graft replacement of the ascending aorta resolved this problem. CONCLUSIONS: We considered that blood flow disrupted by a jet of blood at the site of the proximal inner felt strip was the cause of severe hemolysis, we describe rare hemolytic anemia at the site of aortic flap and inverted felt strip after replacement of the ascending aorta.