A glimpse into the incidence and mortality of aortic dissection in Aotearoa New Zealand.

BACKGROUND

Aortic dissection is a lethal medical diagnosis associated with high morbidity and mortality. Currently published studies have noted a rising incidence of aortic dissection globally as well as a downward trend in mortality secondary to aortic dissection. There remains no nationally available study here in Aotearoa New Zealand looking into the incidence and mortality of aortic dissection.

METHOD

A retrospective observational study was performed using data extracted from the Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health National Minimum Dataset (NMDS) from 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2021. Diagnosis of aortic dissection was based on the ICD-10 version 2 code for aortic dissection (I7100). Population-based statistics were obtained from Statistics New Zealand.

RESULT

A total of 4,737 patients were included in the study over the 20-year period. The incidence rate of aortic dissection in Aotearoa New Zealand is rising and the current median incidence rate is 4.99 per 100,000 per annum. The mortality rate from aortic dissection is slowly decreasing in Aotearoa New Zealand and the current median mortality rate is 2.19 per 100,000 per annum.

CONCLUSION

There appears to be a rise in the incidence of aortic dissection in Aotearoa New Zealand and a decrease in the mortality rate.