In my own terms, it's a "tearing" of the lining of the aorta wall. The way that I understand it is that they aorta is like a garden hose. It has 3 linings of which I believe the inside lining usually is the one to tear and create the dissection.

Once this happens, you go from having not only a "true lumen" path but now a more powerful path called a "false lumen." In my case, my tear runs all the way from about half way up my carotid artery all the way to my left leg.  This is not uncommon either. However, I only had about an inch of my "ascending" aorta replaced with the Dacron tubing.

Here's some technical definitions and diagrams:

• All Refer Health.com
• Diagram of an Aorta Aneurysm
• Aortic Dissection
• X-Ray of an Aortic Dissection
• Health Central-Symptoms of an Aortic Dissection
• HeartCenterOnline-Great Site!
• THE ANEURYSM CENTER
• Marfan's Syndrome
• Valve Sparing Aortic Root Repair

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