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A patient arrives at the emergency room with sudden, tearing pain radiating through the chest and into the back. Minutes later, they begin slurring their words and losing feeling on one side of their body. If the emergency team recognizes these signs as a possible aortic dissection and acts quickly, the patient has a real chance at survival without permanent damage. If the warning signs are missed, dismissed, or misattributed to something less serious, the same patient can suffer a catastrophic, often preventable stroke or permanent brain injury within hours.
A missed aortic dissection stroke is one of the most devastating outcomes in emergency medicine, precisely because it is so often preventable with timely diagnosis and treatment. The Becker Law Firm’s medical malpractice attorneys represent families throughout Cleveland and Ohio whose loved ones suffered catastrophic harm because a hospital or emergency provider failed to meet the standard of care. Call us today at 216-480-4620 to discuss what happened to you or your loved one.
The aorta is the body's largest artery, responsible for carrying oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain and the rest of the body. According to the Cleveland Clinic, an aortic dissection occurs when a tear develops in the inner layer of the aortic wall, allowing blood to force its way between the layers of the artery and create a false channel. This weakens the artery and can disrupt or completely block blood flow to critical organs, including the brain.
Aortic dissection is a true medical emergency. Without immediate diagnosis and treatment, the mortality rate can climb rapidly with each passing hour, and survivors who experience delayed treatment often face permanent, life-altering complications.
When an aortic dissection extends into or affects the carotid arteries, which supply blood directly to the brain, the result can be cerebral malperfusion, a dangerous reduction in blood flow to brain tissue.
This interruption deprives brain cells of oxygen, and depending on the duration and severity of the disruption, it can result in an ischemic stroke, permanent neurological damage, or death. The connection between the aorta and the brain's blood supply is precisely why aortic dissection can produce stroke-like symptoms that are so easily mistaken for a primary neurological event rather than a cardiovascular emergency.
Stroke and other neurological complications are a well-documented risk of aortic dissection, particularly in Type A dissections involving the ascending aorta, which are more likely to affect blood flow to the brain.
According to the AHA Journals, the risk of stroke sits between a 6% to 30% chance depending on other factors such as age and the risk of hypertension.
Because these neurological symptoms can appear alongside or even before classic chest pain, emergency providers must remain alert to the underlying cardiovascular cause rather than treating the stroke symptoms in isolation.
Emergency medicine providers are trained to recognize a specific constellation of warning signs that should immediately raise suspicion for aortic dissection, including:
When these red flags are present, either individually or in combination, the standard of care generally requires providers to move quickly toward definitive imaging rather than assuming a more common, less dangerous diagnosis.
Not every missed or delayed diagnosis of aortic dissection amounts to medical malpractice. Whether a case rises to that level depends on whether the treating providers deviated from the accepted standard of care given the symptoms and information available to them at the time.
When aortic dissection is suspected based on presenting symptoms, the accepted standard of care generally requires immediate CT angiography to confirm or rule out the diagnosis, aggressive blood pressure control to reduce further stress on the aortic wall, and urgent surgical consultation, particularly for Type A dissections that often require emergency surgical repair. Failing to pursue this workup when red flags are present can constitute a breach of the standard of care.
Diagnostic failures in these cases often stem from a few recurring patterns, including:
When aortic dissection is missed or diagnosis is delayed, the resulting complications can be severe and permanent, including:
When a preventable outcome like this occurs, families are often left not only grieving or caring for a loved one with permanent injuries, but also searching for answers about whether the care their loved one received actually met the standard the situation demanded.
If a loved one suffered a stroke, brain injury, paralysis, or died because an aortic dissection was missed or diagnosed too late, Ohio law may allow you to pursue a medical malpractice claim. To succeed, a claim generally must establish that the provider owed a duty of care, that the provider breached that duty by failing to meet the accepted standard of care, that the breach directly caused the resulting injury, and that the patient suffered real, compensable damages as a result.
Ohio’s statute of limitations law generally requires medical malpractice claims to be filed within one year of the injury, or one year from when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. Given this relatively short window, it is important to speak with an attorney as soon as possible after learning that a missed diagnosis may have contributed to a stroke, brain injury, or death.
The Becker Law Firm has a track record of holding hospitals and providers accountable in complex cardiovascular and neurological malpractice cases, including a $4.5 million recovery in an endovascular malpractice case involving stroke and paralysis, and a $3.75 million recovery in a case involving a fatal cardiovascular misdiagnosis. These results reflect the kind of deep medical understanding and thorough investigation that cases like missed aortic dissection require.
Our medical malpractice team works closely with medical experts to reconstruct exactly what should have happened during a patient's emergency room visit, identify where the standard of care broke down, and build a case that holds the responsible parties accountable. We understand the devastating, often lifelong impact a missed diagnosis like this can have, and we approach every case with both the medical rigor and the compassion these situations demand. Not every missed or delayed diagnosis constitutes malpractice, and a full case evaluation is the only way to determine whether the standard of care was breached in your specific situation.
After gathering all the facts, we'll work diligently to pursue the compensation you and your family may be entitled to, helping you begin to move forward after the tragic event that has affected your family.
If someone you love suffered a stroke, brain injury, or died after a missed or delayed aortic dissection diagnosis, you deserve real answers about what happened and why. Our Cleveland medical malpractice lawyers team, along with our catastrophic injury and wrongful death practices, stand ready to investigate your case thoroughly and pursue the accountability your family deserves.
Contact The Becker Law Firm at 216-480-4620 for a free consultation, and let us help you understand your legal options.
