[Dissecting aortic aneurysm in the 8th month of a twin pregnancy. A review of the literature (author's transl)].

48 % of women under the age of 40 who have an acute dissecting aortic aneurysm are pregnant. Dissection of the ascending aorta (types I and II of De Bakey) are most frequent types to be found, as indeed they are outside pregnancy. There are no histological lesions that are specific for pregnancy. The clinical and angiographic signs are not specially modified in pregnancy. Surgical treatment is made more difficult by the pregnant state. It seems to have been used very little in pregnancy, as there have been only two cases published since 1961. The prognosis for the mother is frightful, with 94 % of cases dying, most of them within the first 48 hours. The fetal prognosis is not much better, with 10 children alive (including our 2 children) out of 78 case histories published to date.