Acute dissection of the ascending aorta. Initial presentation as acute lower GI bleeding.

We present the unusual case of a 56-year-old man with acute dissection of the ascending aorta (DeBakey type I) whose presenting symptoms were those of lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Surgical repair was successfully accomplished with resection of the aorta with a Dacron tubular graft combined with aortic valvular replacement after obtaining bowel viability.