Utah Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

An aortic dissection occurs when the inner layer of your aorta, the main artery in your body, tears. As a result, blood pours through to the middle layer of the aorta, causing the middle and inner layers to separate. If the tear goes all the way through to the outside aortic wall, the condition will most likely result in death.

This is a very rare condition; however, it can potentially occur in anyone. Men ages 40 to 70 are at greatest risk of aortic dissection. Unfortunately, the symptoms resemble those of many other diseases, which can cause a delayed diagnosis.

Aortic dissection is a very serious condition that must be attended to immediately. If it is caught early enough, you are much more likely to survive the incident. Any delays in diagnosis or treatment will most likely prove fatal.

Some of the most typical symptoms include sudden severe chest or upper back pain, loss of consciousness, shortness of breath, weakness, and stroke.

If your doctor fails to correctly diagnose your aortic dissection, he may be held liable for medical malpractice. Generally, the key to successfully proving malpractice in an aortic dissection case hinges on the time between the failure to diagnose the condition and the death of the patient. If there is at least one or two hours between misdiagnosis and death, the doctor had enough time to save the patient?s life. If he failed to do so, he is most likely guilty of malpractice.

At G. Eric Nielson & Associates, we specialize in handling medical malpractice cases. If you have a loved one who has died from misdiagnosis of an aortic dissection, we can help you recover damages for your loss.

Please contact G. Eric Nielson & Associates, LLC today to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced medical malpractice attorneys.