Triple-barrel aorta: dissection of a healed aortic dissection.

An unusual case of a triple-barrel aorta in a 51-year-old woman is described. The patient first had a spontaneous type I dissection of the aorta and acute aortic insufficiency, for which she underwent aortic valve replacement and Dacron graft replacement of the ascending aorta. She remained asymptomatic for five years with a healed aortic dissection (double-barrel aorta) distal to the graft. She then underwent a second operation for repair and poppet replacement of the malfunctioned prosthesis. Postoperative cardiac failure necessitated the use of a counterpulsation intra-aortic balloon catheter, which entered and dissected the wall of the false lumen, thus creating a triple-lumen aorta.