Differences in the clinical presentation, management, and in-hospital outcomes of acute aortic dissection in patients with and without end-stage renal disease

BACKGROUND: Few studies have evaluated the clinical presentation, management, and outcomes of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) presenting with acute aortic dissection (AAD) in real-world clinical practice. Thus, this study investigated the clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of AAD patients with ESRD. METHODS: A total of 217 patients were included. We evaluated the differences in the clinical features, management, and in-hospital outcomes of patients with and without a history of ESRD presenting with AAD. RESULTS: A history of ESRD was present in 71 of 217 patients. Patients with ESRD had atypical clinical manifestations (p < 0.001) and were more likely to be managed medically compared with patients without ESRD (p = 0.002). Hypertension and type B aortic dissection were significantly more common among patients with ESRD. Moreover, patients with ESRD had lower leucocyte and platelet counts than patients without ESRD in laboratory findings (p < 0.001). However, hospitalization days and in-hospital mortality were similar between the two groups (p > 0.05). Multivariate analysis identified Type A aortic dissection as an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality among patients without ESRD (OR, 13.68; 95% CI, 1.92 to 98.90; P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights differences in the clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of AAD patients with ESRD. These patients usually have atypical symptoms and more comorbid conditions and are managed more conservatively. However, these patients have no in-hospital survival disadvantage over those without ESRD. Further studies are needed to better understand and optimize care for patients with ESRD presenting with AAD.