It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a tear in the largest artery in the body. Common symptoms include sudden severe pain that feels like something is tearing, stabbing, or even just a sharp localized pain. Less common symptoms include congestive heart failure and ECG changes.
Problems with misdiagnosis, or failure to diagnose often occur because of the variety of symptoms. A proper diagnosis can be made by looking at a chest x-ray, CT scan, or MRI.
Recently, Richard Holbrooke suffered an aortic dissection:
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