Aortic dissection diagnostic delays varied with symptoms
A review found that diagnostic timing differed across studies of patients with aortic dissection. Symptoms and care pathways were associated with delays, without establishing their causes.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Among patients with aortic dissection, chest or back pain and certain examination findings were associated with faster diagnosis. Presentations without pain, fainting and breathing difficulties were associated with delayed recognition. These patterns describe findings across existing studies; they do not establish why an individual diagnosis took longer or identify a tested solution.
The abstract does not report effect sizes for individual predictors, study-level definitions of delay or an evidence-quality assessment. The reported associations cannot establish that a particular characteristic caused a longer wait.
What researchers found
Reported time from hospital presentation to diagnosis
Range across included studies, with hospital presentation as the starting point; no treatment comparator.
Where the clock starts
The review separated diagnostic time measured from symptom onset from time measured after hospital presentation. These measures cover different parts of the pathway, so their reported ranges should not be treated as interchangeable.
Care pathways also featured
Delayed diagnosis was associated with patient history and care pathways, including transfers from non-tertiary hospitals. The review describes these patterns, but it does not test whether clinician education or changes to transfers would shorten diagnostic time.
The original publication
Delayed Diagnosis of Aortic Dissection: A Scoping Review.
Xiao Y, Huang S, Zheng D et al.
Rev Cardiovasc Med · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40630449
- Record checked
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