Hello Brian,

I happened to come across your article on the internet.  Thanks for the informative information.  I am a 34-year-old female whose father (best friend) just passed away recently from Aortic Dissection.  He was 59 years old.  I am having a very hard time dealing with his death since it was so sudden.

He was taken to a local hospital in Somerville, Massachusetts in the evening of January 2, 2008 complaining of very severe chest, abdomen and back pain.  After being there a few hours, he was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital upon reviewing scans they had run.  They came to the realization that his major blood vessel had a tear in it.

He arrived at MGH around 10p.m. that night.  They were supposed to perform the surgery that night and they put it off.  They were then supposed to perform it in the morning, and again, was delay.  They finally took him back about 4:10p.m. on January 3, 2008.  They pronounced him dead at 5:41p.m. without performing the surgery.  He passed away from a cardiac arrest

I am so hurt and angry right now. I am left to wonder why surgery wasn’t performed when they had the chance.  My father literally bled to death internally. 

Reading your article has made me more aware of just how serious this condition is.  I will be contacting you shortly to get some more information regarding this. 

Michelle La-Vita

248-941-1808