Use of glutaraldehyde solution in the treatment of acute aortic dissections.

We report on a promising method for toughening and strengthening the fragile aortic wall that involves the direct application of a 25% glutaraldehyde solution and that has proved to be both technically simple and safe. The operation was successfully employed in 5 patients with acute aortic dissections, 3 with a Stanford type A and 2 with a type B dissection. Histologic examination of the glutaraldehyde-treated portions of the aortic wall showed no detectable difference between them and the sections of untreated aortic wall. All patients survived the operation. The duration of follow-up ranged from 9 to 31 months (mean, 14.0 months). All 5 patients were in good condition at the time of the last follow-up. The preliminary results indicate that the use of a 25% glutaraldehyde solution to strengthen the aortic wall during operations for the repair of acute aortic dissections, regardless of whether they are type A or type B, may reduce the incidence of catastrophic perioperative bleeding and promote favorable results.